7 August 2017

Good morning Fellow Traders.

The Australian stock market is expected to open higher by 25 points on Monday reversing some Friday's losses on the back of better global news.
The main driver is US payroll figures which showed good jobs growth in the world's biggest economy.
AMP Capital's chief economist Shane Oliver said Friday night's figures showed 209,000 jobs were created in the US in July and the unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent.
He said the strong figures and low wages growth, of just 2.5 per cent, will result in the US Federal Reserve continuing its gradual tightening of monetary policy.
"So that combination of good growth but relatively low inflation is something the sharemarket likes, it's almost like a Goldilocks economy - not too hot, not too cold, but just right," Dr Oliver said.
"Not so good for workers but it's good for the companies."

The rise in the iron ore price is another factor.
It rose 7.8 per cent last week to US $74.10 per tonne on Friday.
It all points to reasonable start to the week for the ASX, but share trading will start slowly due to Monday's bank holiday in NSW.

During the week, all eyes will be on the start of the profit reporting season.
One to watch is the CBA full-year's results on Wednesday.
The bank is expected to report another record profit. Its share price fell 3.6 per cent to $80.72 last week after it was revealed on Thursday the federal government's financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC, had accused the lender of more than 53,000 breaches of Australia's money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

Other data the market will be watching includes the NAB's business survey on Tuesday and Westpac Consumer Confidence Index on Wednesday.
Globally, China releases its trade figures on Tuesday.

At the close on Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 14.5 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 5,720.6 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 13.5 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,773.3 points.

In The US, the dollar surged by the most in six weeks and Treasuries fell after hiring data from last month came in stronger than forecast, underpinning the case for tighter monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a ninth straight day to close at a record.


The greenback averted a fourth straight weekly slide after government figures showed employers added workers at a solid clip and wage growth picked up in July. The S&P 500 Index ended one point below an all-time high to cap a weekly gain, while the Dow’s winning streak is the longest since February, as the weak dollar boosts megacaps. The 10-year Treasury yield rose as the notes pared a weekly advance. Oil trimmed a weekly loss, while gold slumped.
Broad-based hiring in July along with stronger household incomes and buoyant consumer confidence may give the Federal Reserve reason to raise interest rates later this year as it seeks to normalize monetary policy. The dollar’s bounce propelled it higher from the lowest since 2015 as investors sought faster growth in economies outside the U.S.
Markets meanwhile continued to shrug at mounting signs that President Donald Trump’s policy agenda has run aground, with assets from stocks to the dollar largely looking past reports Thursday that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election has intensified.

Stocks

• The S&P 500 advanced 0.2 percent to 2,476.40 at 4 p.m. in New York, finishing higher by that amount over the five days.
• The Dow rose 0.3 percent to close at 22,090.5, while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced Friday to pare its loss in the week to 0.3 percent.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1 percent, pushing its gain in the five days to 1.1 percent.
• The MSCI All-Country World Index was little changed and up 0.4 percent for the week.
• Emerging-market shares added 0.3 percent.

Currency

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rallied 0.5 percent, putting it up 0.3 percent on the week.
• The euro tumbled 0.8 percent to $1.1773.
• The British pound slumped 0.8 percent to $1.3039.
• The yen slid 0.5 percent to 110.64 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced four basis points to 2.27 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield gained two basis points to 0.47 percent.
• Britain’s 10-year yield climbed three basis points to 1.18 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.9 percent to $49.48 a barrel, paring a decline for the week that had reached more than 2 percent.
• Gold sank 0.7 percent to $1,259.16 an ounce.
• Copper advanced 0.3 percent to $2.89 a pound.

Asia

• Japan’s Topix index slid 0.2 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.4 percent after sliding 1.7 percent on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses before ending down.
• The Japanese yen dipped less than 0.1 percent to 110.12 per dollar.

Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup

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Happy trading, play nice, be kind to each other and if you don't feel that way inclined, remember that @Endless has returned with a big stick he brought back from Tassie.