Thanks
@ttward and
@Ravgnome. A new month - let's hope it's a good one for trading.
Australian shares have fallen sharply as investor concerns about the US presidential election were heightened after a tense presidential debate which was marked by interruptions and insults.
The ASX 200 deepened its losses in afternoon trade and closed down 2.3 per cent or 136 points to 5,816, wiping around $40 billion off its market value.
The All Ordinaries index lost nearly 2.2 per cent to 6,009.
Both indexes had come off their morning lows earlier in the day after good Chinese economic data.
China's official purchasing managers' manufacturing index rose from 51 to 51.5 in September, helped by stronger exports and the services index increased from 55.2 to 55.9.
The benchmark index has ended the month down 4 per cent and declined 1.4 per cent for the September quarter.
At 4:40pm (AEST) the Australian dollar had slipped (-0.2pc) to 71.11 US cents, but maintained most of its overnight gains.
Analysts said neither candidate, US President Donald Trump nor Democratic nominee Joe Biden, emerged from their vicious first debate with a decisive advantage.
"It's like as if they are both just insulting each other," said Tohru Sasaki, head of Japan market research at JP Morgan.
US stock futures rose during the debate before falling steeply, suggesting another drop on Wall Street tonight.
At 4:40pm (AEST) both the Dow futures and the S&P 500 futures had dropped by 1.1 per cent.
"Right now it looks like an even split between Trump and Biden, so it is difficult for the markets to move," said Ayako Sera, a market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank in Tokyo.
Every ASX sector experienced heavy falls on Wednesday with oil stocks leading the losses. On the ASX 200, 183 firms declined, six were steady and just 11 firms rose.
Santos shares dropped 3.9 per cent, despite NSW planning authorities approving the
company's controversial $3.6 billion Narrabri coal seam gas project.
On the flip side, Nine Entertainment (+1.2pc), Amcor (+1.1pc) and Skycity Entertainment (+2.6pc) posted gains.
Corporate Travel Management was the best-performing stock, surging 9.7 per cent to $17.23.
The travel agency said it had raised $262 million, by issuing 18.9 million new shares to big institutional investors. It also hopes to raise $113 million by issuing more shares to retail investors.
The money will be used to fund its takeover of US-based Travel & Transport, for $282 million ($US200 million).
Meanwhile, its excess funds will be saved for "balance sheet flexibility" (a rainy day) as the travel industry struggles to stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.
Banks and miners were the largest drag on the market, with CBA (-2.2pc), ANZ (-2.1pc) and BHP (-3.5pc) being the laggards in that heavyweight cohort.
Investment house AMP slumped 3.3 per cent to $0.04.
It said it was continuing with plans to simplify its business but it did not flag how many jobs would go.
"AMP has made changes to its teams that will centralise some business services," an AMP spokesperson said
The election has implications for different sectors, notably healthcare, green energy and companies which have benefited from Mr Trump's corporate tax cuts.
However, Goldman Sachs analysts expected a Democratic sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress would be beneficial to S&P 500 profits through 2024.
"We think markets can do fine with either Trump or Biden, but they need to know who the winner is," Mr Carter added.
As the global death toll from COVID-19 rose past 1 million, investors have remained focused on prospects for a stimulus package to help the US economy recover from the damage wrought by the virus.
US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, on Monday, that Democratic lawmakers had unveiled a new US$2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
In recent days, Ms Pelosi has said she thinks a deal can be reached with the Republican-controlled White House on a new coronavirus relief package and that talks were continuing.
Oil prices sank as investors remained hesitant to take on risk. Brent crude oil fell further to $US40.59 a barrel, down 1.1 per cent by 440pm (AEST).
Iron ore lifted (+1.3pc) to $US117.61 a tonne.
Spot gold fell 0.5 per cent to $US1,888.53 an ounce.
The precious metal "surged on a weaker dollar, some hopes that Congress might come through with some fiscal stimulus, and some safe haven flows as the virus worries grow," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
"Gold will completely resume its traditional role as a safe haven if the dollar rebound has run its course."
In economic news, US consumer confidence experienced its biggest monthly rebound in 17 years.
But confidence remained below levels that prevailed before the COVID-19 pandemic struck America earlier this year.
"While today's figure is on the face of it a fantastic result, we have to remain a little cautious given the mixed evidence from other sources," said James Knightley, chief international economist at ING in New York.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index increased 15.5 points to a reading of 101.8 this month. That was the largest gain since April 2003.
In comparison, the index was much higher in February, at 132.6 points.
U.S. stocks closed solidly higher on Wednesday as government leaders continued talks for a new pandemic relief package and positive economic data helped the major indexes end the third quarter in positive territory.
All three major indexes surged after U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin both expressed hope for a breakthrough in partisan stimulus negotiations.
But the indexes pared gains after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the sides remain “far apart” in their talks.
“We had the economic news which was pretty good, and continued discussions with Mnuchin and Pelosi drove hopes that we could have stimulus before the election before McConnell threw cold water on it,” said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
“Volatility has been the watchword all month and I don’t think we’re out of the woods yet,” Nolte added.
Market participants also were digesting Tuesday’s contentious presidential debate, where President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden talked over each other and traded insults as they sparred over the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare and the economy.
A spate of economic data mostly surprised to the upside, with ADP National Employment index blowing past analyst expectations and pending home sales surging to an all-time high.
The major indexes wrapped up September with their first monthly declines since March, when mandated shutdowns slammed the economy.
But the indexes showed third-quarter gains, with the S&P enjoying its biggest two-quarter winning streak since 2009 and the Nasdaq posting its biggest gain for two quarters since 2000.
Source - Reuters
The Aussie futures currently sits at +10 points +0.17%.
Very surprised to see the US market in the green. Leads me to believe that the Yanks are used to these imbeciles leading their country - go figure????
Serving you up breakkie from
https://www.notquitenigella.com/Scottish Potato Scones, Smoked Salmon and Fresh Corn Salad.
View attachment 2527238View attachment 2527241Let's get October started!
