Good morning traders. Thanks @ttward, @Ravgnome & the aftermarket loungers. Just a splash and dash to finish the week. A shame to have a day off to interrupt what was a couple of seriously positive days for the pointy end of the Aussie markets, but weakness over the past 2 days in the US may lead to a bit of a bumpy ride today on the Australian markets.

ASX Market Report

On Wednesday stalled inflation raised hopes of a rate cut and helped the Australian share market to an 11-year high, but the Aussie dollar is languishing at a near six-week low.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished up 62.7 points, or 0.99 per cent, to 6,382.1 points at 1615 AEST on Wednesday, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 59.5 points, or 0.93 per cent, to 6,470.6.

The Aussie dollar slipped to its lowest since early March after inflation completely evaporated in the quarter. The dollar slipped to 70.34 US cents from 71.19 US cents on Tuesday.

Rakuten Securities analyst Nick Twidale said the below-expectation inflation data had boosted the local stock market as a rate cut becomes more likely. He said the ASX outperformed other Asia-Pacific indicies in a week of thin trading disrupted by Easter and Anzac Day public holidays. It's very interesting that the ASX is up by a per cent, but the big guys like the Nikkei and Hang Seng are down," Mr Twidale said. Because we've got such poor CPI... it's really pushed forward expectations of a rate cut by the RBA and given the ASX a shot in the arm. How long we see that coming through for I don't know." After three years of below-target inflation and GDP growth forecasts being revised downward, economists said the RBA could now cut the cash rate from its record low 1.5 per cent as soon as May.

Biotech giant CSL gained 2.34 per cent to $195.00 to lift the health care sector into the black, while tech stocks had their best day since February with a 2.22 per cent rise as a whole.

Financial stocks lifted 1.28 per cent for the session with Westpac the best performer of the big four banks, up 1.55 per cent to $27.58. Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and NAB gained 1.29, 1.0 and 1.18 per cent respectively.

Bellamy's Australia shares were the shining light for consumer staples, up 15.59 per cent after the Chinese market regulator released three approvals for the company's branded infant formula to be produced at its ViPlus Dairy plant in Victoria.

The market would have closed even higher were it not for a subdued mining sector, which closed 0.42 per cent lower on a 0.83 per cent loss for Rio Tinto, and a 0.34 per cent dip for BHP. South32 fell more than two per cent while Fortescue Metals dropped more than 1.8 per cent.

Global Markets Report

On Wednesday, we saw global markets little softer after a strong week. The US markets were very much in sync within 0.01% of eachother, dropping 0.22% (The Dow and S&P500) or 0.23% (Nasdaq), although the Russell 2000 Smallcap index again showed a bit more strength as it tries to play catch-up, 6.15 points or 0.39% firmer. The one real black mark on the markets this week though has been China, the Shanghai Composite shredding 115 pints, or 4.74% for the week so far.

On Thursday, world markets saw much of the same weakness.

The dollar rose to almost a two-year high against the euro on Thursday on an upbeat U.S. capital goods report, while world equities slid as weak economic data from South Korea and a profit warning from 3M Co renewed concerns about global growth.

New orders for U.S.-made capital goods increased by the most in eight months in March, which combined with worries about the economic health of the euro zone knocked the single currency to its lowest against the greenback since May 2017.

Other data showed the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits last week was the biggest in 19 months, but the trend remains consistent with a strong labor market. “The dollar is benefiting from strong domestic data, weak data abroad and a slew of dovish central bank meetings,” said John Doyle, vice president of dealing and trading at Tempus Inc in Washington.

The euro fell 0.19% to $1.1131, while European shares slid after a mixed bag of earnings from the region.

Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia tumbled 9.0%, its biggest decline in 18 months. Nokia reported a surprise quarterly loss after it failed to supply 5G telecoms equipment on time.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed down 0.21% and MSCI’s gauge of stock performance in 47 countries shed 0.25%.

On Wall Street, strong results from Facebook and Microsoft Corp lifted the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a new intra-day record but were offset by dismal earnings in industrials, including 3M and United Parcel Service Inc. UPS fell 8.1% and the industrial sector slid 2%, while Facebook gained 5.8% and Microsoft Corp rose 3.3%.

The Dow industrials fell 1% at one point, dragged down by a 13% plunge in 3M shares after the company reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, cut its 2019 earnings forecast and said it would lay off 2,000 workers globally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 134.97 points, or 0.51%, to 26,462.08. The S&P 500 lost 1.08 points, or 0.04%, to 2,926.17 and the Nasdaq Composite added 16.67 points, or 0.21%, to 8,118.68.

Asian markets slid earlier in the day, losing 0.5% as South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter, a reminder of economic fragility outside the United States. Shanghai’s bourse also fell late in the day, losing more than 2% on the latest central bank efforts to temper expectations for further monetary policy easing. Chinese officials also warned of protracted pressure on economic growth, casting a shadow over hopes for a sustained recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of six major peers, held near its highest level since May 2017. The index was up 0.1%.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.48% versus the greenback at 111.63 per dollar.

The Turkish lira weakened 0.95% against the dollar after Turkey’s central bank left interest rates unchanged at 24% but in a dovish shift dropped a previous reference to possible further tightening if needed to address inflation.

U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors piled into the safe-haven government bonds following a dovish report from Canada’s central bank and solid demand at auction for $41 billion of new five-year notes. Benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year notes fell 3/32 in price to push yields up to 2.5343%.

Oil prices eased after Brent touched $75 per barrel for the first time in nearly six months on the suspension of some Russian crude exports to Europe. Brent crude futures settled down 22 cents at $74.35 a barrel. U.S. crude fell 68 cents to settle at $65.21.

U.S. gold futures settled unchanged at $1,279.70 an ounce.

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