Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.6% to 7,209.00
- Dow Average down 0.7% to 34,421.93
- Aussie down 0.8% to 0.7427 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield fell 2.3bps to 1.2928%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 4bps to 0.35%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 7bps to 1.32%
- Gold spot little changed at $1,802.77
- Brent futures up 1.2% to $74.33/bbl
Economic Events
Asian shares look poised to follow U.S. equities lower Friday, with the rally in Treasuries gaining pace on growing anxiety that the spread of Covid-19 variants could hamper the global economic recovery.
Futures fell in Japan and Australia but edged up in Hong Kong, where a key gauge of Chinese stocks is near a bear market. U.S. contracts dipped after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 retreated from records. Economically-sensitive sectors like industrials and materials led Wall Street lower.
U.S. government bonds extended their advance into an eighth trading day, with the five-year Treasury yield down more than 20 basis points from last month’s peak and the 30-year dipping below 1.90% for the first time since February.
Other News
Scientific researchers got brown trout addicted to methamphetamine in a test that had them swimming in a tank with meth-laced water for eight weeks, a study published Tuesday said. When they were later given an option of a clean stream or one with methamphetamine the trout preferred the tainted water – a sign they were experiencing withdrawal, the researchers said in The Journal of Experimental Biology. The study, which aimed to test the effects of drugs seeping into natural waterways, also found the trout moved around less after meth exposure than their drug-free counterparts. The study’s head researcher told CNN that as the drug seeps through the filtration process at water treatment plants, drug-addicted fish could seek out water change behavioral patterns and throw the ecosystem into disarray.
