Good morning traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers.
US markets were a mixed bag, the Dow and S&P 500 both just managing to hold onto green, up .15% and .10% respectively, while the Nasdaq took a bit of a whack, tumbling .6% after Alphabet reported underwhelming growth numbers.
ASX Market Report
The Australian share market has closed lower for a second day, dragged by the energy, mining and utility sectors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 34 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 6,325.5 points at 1615 AEST on Tuesday, while the broader All Ordinaries closed down 31.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 6,418.4.
"We've seen investors cautious ahead of a pretty big week on the macro side of things," CommSec market analyst James Tao said. Specifically, US-China trade talks are said to be in their "final laps" and the US Federal Reserve will announce on Friday (Saturday, Australian time) whether it will cut interest rates. And in Australia, investors are betting there's a 50-50 chance the Reserve Bank will cut rates at its meeting next Tuesday.
Utilities were down around two per cent and the mining, energy and utilities and property trust sectors were down more than one per cent.
BHP was down 1.11 per cent to $37.40, Rio Tinto dropped 2.43 per cent to $95.37 and Fortescue Metals dropped 1.38 per cent to $7.15.
Newcrest Mining fell 2.42 per cent to $25.01 after the gold miner said production had fallen five per cent in the quarter ending in March, compared to the three months previous.
All of the big four banks were also in negative territory ahead of the reporting season for banks, with Commonwealth down 0.79 per cent to $74.52, NAB down 0.35 per cent to $25.35, Westpac down 0.25 per cent to $27.51, and ANZ down 0.48 per cent to $27.20. ANZ is set to announce earnings results on Wednesday, NAB will do so on Thursday and Macquarie Group on Friday.
Health care was the biggest gainer on Tuesday, up 0.36 per cent, with industry giant CSL up 0.22 per cent to $198.57.
Overall ASX200 closed the month of April up 2.34 per cent and close to its highs of late August.
Bubs Australia was up 3.9 per cent to $1.20, an all-time high, after it reported its third-quarter revenue more than doubled.
Domain Holdings was the worst performer on the ASX 200, falling 7.53 per cent to $2.70 after the real estate listing company said its total revenue was down six per cent in the three months to March 31.
Retirement home operator Aveo Group was the best performer, shooting up 10.36 per cent to $2.13 amid takeover speculation.
The Australian Financial Review reported that Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners was one of two parties considering buying the company.
Nine Entertainment was up 0.57 per cent to $1.75 after it agreed to sell its regional and community newspapers for $115 million.
JB Hi-Fi was down 0.39 per cent to $25.77 after it reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance and posted third-quarter sales growth across all three of its businesses.
Super Retail Group was up 3.34 per cent to $8.66 after reporting 4.3 per cent like-for-like sales growth in the 17 weeks to April 27.
The Aussie dollar dropped at 1100 AEST after Chinese factory activity for April came in lower than expected. The Aussie was buying 70.37 US cents, down from 70.55 cents on Monday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 34 points, or 0.53 per cent, at 6,325.5 points at 1615 AEST on Monday
* The All Ordinaries was down 31.2 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 6,418.4
* At 1630 AEDT, the SPI200 futures index was down 38 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 6,304.0.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEDT:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 70.37 US cents, from 70.55 on Monday
* 78.43 Japanese yen, from 78.78
* 62.96 euro cents, from 63.22
* 54.39 British pence, from 54.56
* 105.71 NZ cents, unchanged
Global Markets Report
Global equity markets edged higher on Tuesday as the Dow and S&P 500 indexes erased early lows caused by weak Chinese business surveys and a tumble in shares of Google parent Alphabet, while the euro strengthened on the heels of data that showed euro zone growth topped expectations.
Shares of Alphabet dropped 7.8%, making it the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes a day after both hit record highs, as the company reported its slowest revenue growth in three years. Fellow heavyweight Apple is scheduled to report results after the market close on Tuesday.
Equity markets started the day on shaky footing after surveys on China’s manufacturing missed forecasts, another sign that Beijing’s efforts to spur growth in the world’s second-biggest economy had yet to take hold.
Major U.S. indexes were able to move off their lows, however, after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with Democratic leaders to spend $2 trillion on infrastructure and White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said talks between the United States and China aimed at resolving their trade dispute will likely be resolved “one way or the other” in the next two weeks. “Between the news about some sort of theoretical infrastructure bill and continuing trade headlines about a China deal being done whenever the latest timetable is - that was enough to get sellers to step back from the edge a little bit,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
Investors were looking ahead to a policy statement from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday and payrolls data at the end of the week. The Fed is largely expected to leave U.S. interest rates unchanged as it seeks to balance solid economic growth against low inflation. “People are kind of looking to see what is next before they take a step out in one direction or the other,” said Delwiche.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 38.11 points, or 0.14%, to 26,592.5, the S&P 500 gained 2.78 points, or 0.09%, to 2,945.81 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 54.09 points, or 0.66%, to 8,107.77. For the month, the S&P rose 3.9%, the Dow gained 2.6% and the Nasdaq increased 4.9%.
Despite the disappointing Alphabet results, corporate profits for the quarter are now showing growth of 0.7%, according to Refinitiv data, helping ease worries about a possible earnings recession.
After seesawing between gains and losses, European stocks ended flat as bank weakness undercut encouraging euro zone data indicating economic growth in the first quarter was much stronger than expected and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest in more than a decade. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.01% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.13%.
The encouraging regional data helped the euro strengthen above $1.12 for the first time in a week, to a high of $1.1230. The dollar remained subdued against a basket of major currencies even after a round of upbeat data on housing and consumer confidence. The dollar index fell 0.34%, with the euro up 0.27% to $1.1215.
Brent crude earlier topped $73 but then pulled back as the market grew less worried that a rebellion against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro would hit the country’s crude exports. U.S. crude settled up 0.65% at $63.91 per barrel and Brent was last at $72.80, up 1.05% on the day.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.5054%, from 2.536% late on Monday.
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Today’s breakfast was not sponsored by the healthy living association.
