Outlook for the day: Mildly negative as the market awaits fresh catalysts following one of the best weeks of the year.
ASX futures: down 14 points or 0.18%
Friday/weekend themes:
US stocks edged higher at the end of their strongest week of the year in percentage terms as recession worries continued to dissipate.
The major indices carved out Friday gains of 0.2% - 0.24% after overcoming mild opening weakness.
The S&P 500 climbed to within 2% of an all-time high following a gain of 0.2% on Friday. The index's 3.9% gain for the week was its largest since November. The Nasdaq put on 5.2% for the week and the Dow 2.9%.
The market rose strongly last week as economic reports soothed fears that the economy was tilting towards recession because the Federal Reserve had left it too late to start to lower interest rates. Those fears helped trigger a sharp three-day sell-off earlier in the month that sent shockwaves through global markets. Market jitters were reduced last week by solid retail sales growth and a drop in inflation.
A report on Friday showed American consumers were more optimistic this month. The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment gauge rose to 67.8 from 66.4 in July, ahead of expectations.
“Data released over the past week has struck the right balance, being not too hot, nor too cold. This should help allay both concerns of a looming recession or that sticky inflation will hamper the Federal Reserve if swift rate cuts are needed to defend growth” - UBS head of investment for global wealth management Mark Haefele (per CNBC).
Financials was the pick of the S&P sectors, rising 0.62%. Next best were utilities +0.4% and tech +0.26%. Three sectors fell: industrials -0.19%, energy -0.14% and real estate -0.04%.
Gold futures hit an all-time high as this month's financial market volatility continued to attract haven buying. Gold for December delivery rallied 1.8% to a new settlement high of US$2,537.80 an ounce on Comex. The contract also set a new intraday record at US$2,538.70. The yellow metal rose on four out of five sessions last week for a monthly to-date gain of 2.7%.
Iron ore fell for a fifth straight day in China after steel rebar prices sank to the lowest since 2017. "Steel mills showed less interest in restocking raw materials," wrote analysts at Macquarie. Benchmark ore in China declined 0.99% to US$96.01 a metric ton.
Oil ended a volatile week little changed after falling on Friday for the third time in five sessions. Brent crude declined 1.7% to close the week just two cents above where it started. Prices ebbed and rose all week as traders tried to gauge the timing and scale of any Iranian response to Israel's assassination of a Hamas leader in Tehran.
The domestic earning season is in full stride this week. Potential highlights include Santos, Brambles, Megaport, WiseTech and two of the major insurers.
