The local bourse has the ASX SPI futures pointing to a mildly positive open + 10.
U.S. stocks fell, giving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index its first-two day drop in a month, as investors weighed global manufacturing data and earnings reports from Caterpillar Inc. and Apple (AAPL) Inc.
Caterpillar slipped 2.4 percent after cutting its forecast. Broadcom Corp. sank 15 percent after predicting revenue that trailed estimates. Utility shares and homebuilders tumbled amid rising interest rates. Apple advanced 5.1 percent after profit and sales topped forecasts. Ford Motor Co. rose to a 36-month high after raising its full-year earnings target. Facebook Inc. surged 19 percent after the markets closed as the company reported earnings that beat estimates.
Caterpillar (CAT) dropped 2.4 percent to $83.44 for the steepest loss in the Dow. The world’s largest maker of mining and construction machinery posted earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates for a third straight quarter and cut its forecast as mining-equipment sales declined on slower commodity demand.
The commodities supercycle, or longer-than-average period of rising prices, is coming to an end and Caterpillar “is tied to the wrong products at the wrong time in the cycle,” short seller Jim Chanos said July 17. Caterpillar’s resource-industries unit is the company’s largest segment by revenue.
Comex gold futures prices ended the U.S. day session solidly lower and near the daily low Wednesday, pressured by the important “outside markets” turning fully bearish as the session progressed. The U.S. dollar index posted a good rebound in price, while Nymex crude oil futures prices traded sharply lower. Some profit-taking from short-term traders also hit the gold market Wednesday, following recent price gains.
