Morning traders. Thanks once again to@Bugsam for his splendid service in this slot as thread opener. Good luck with whatever you do next.
Weekend round-upand day ahead:
Aussie stocks look set for a cautiously positive open this morning despite headwinds from Wall Street, China and the Middle East.
The SPI200 index rose eight points or more than 0.1 per cent to 6565 as traders bet central bank meetings this week will support recent strength in share markets.
However, market bears have plenty of reasons to be sceptical of further gains this morning after the ASX ended last week just four per cent short of all-time highs: Wall Street closed lower on Friday; China released its worst industrial data in 17 years; two million protestors took to the streets of Hong Kong; tensions remained high between Iran and the U.S. following several attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz; and the price of iron ore and most base metals deteriorated.
U.S. stocks lost ground after PC chipmaker Broadcom slashed its revenue forecast, citing the impact from the White House's trade war with China. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.52 per cent and the broader S&P 500 0.16 per cent.
Despite those falls, U.S. stocks are up almost 5 per cent this month on the conviction that the Federal Reserve has entered a rate-cutting cycle. That conviction will be tested when the Fed commences a two-day policy meeting tomorrow night. While the central bank is not expected to cut its key rate when it releases its decision on Thursday morning AEST, traders expect Chair Jerome Powell to lay the ground for cuts later this year.
In a week likely to be dominated by central banks, the RBA releases tomorrow the minutes from its last policy meeting. Policy announcements are also due this week from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan.
Traders will keep an eye on Chinese markets following news late Friday that growth in industrial production slowed to a 17-year low last month. The May figure of 5 per cent fell far short of the 5.4 per cent growth anticipated by economists, raising concerns about the impact of U.S. trade tariffs. Fixed-asset investment also fell short, raising the pressure on Beijing to support the economy. Beijing also has a crisis developing in Hong Kong after two million marched yesterday to protest a bill that would allow Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to mainland China to face trial.
Turning to commodity markets, oil ended a jittery week modestly higher on Friday as the U.S. and Iran exchanged barbs over attacks on Iran's doorstep. Texas crude rose 23 cents or 0.4 per cent to settle $US52.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Those tensions helped gold hit its highest point in 14 months before tempering gains. Gold for August delivery settled 80 cents or 0.1 per cent ahead at $US1,344.50 an ounce after rising as high as $US1,362.20.
A strong week for iron ore ended with a mild retrace on Friday. Australia's biggest export eased 80 cents or 0.7 per cent to US$109.40 a tonne but still gained more than 11 per cent for the week. Copper took a hit from those soft Chinese economic figures, falling 0.6 per cent to $US5,822 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
Breakfast this morning is all you can eat. Tuck in.
