Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.5% to 7,423.00
- Dow Average up 0.6% to 35,120.08
- Aussie down 0.3% to 0.7123 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 1.2bps to 1.2550%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 1bp to 0.18%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 0.4bps to 1.08%
- Gold spot little changed at $1,781.11
- Brent futures down 1.9% to $65.18/bbl
Economic Events
- 9am: (AU) Aug. Markit Australia PMI Composite, prior 45.2
- 9am: (AU) Aug. Markit Australia PMI Mfg, prior 56.9
- 9am: (AU) Aug. Markit Australia PMI Services, prior 44.2
Asian stocks look set to rise Monday after bargain hunters spurred a U.S. rally, with traders also weighing growth risks and awaiting the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook.
Futures advanced in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong, while U.S. contracts fluctuated. All major groups in the S&P 500 gained at the end of last week and technology giants lifted the Nasdaq 100. Beijing’s regulatory crackdown saw Chinese shares listed in the U.S. suffer their longest streak of weekly losses in a decade despite a a climb on Friday.
The dollar was largely steady against major currencies in early trading after its best week since June on haven demand as the delta virus variant spreads. The Jackson Hole symposium from Thursday may offer insights into how the Fed plans to taper bond purchases. Treasuries were little changed last week.
Commodities remain in focus, after a tumble in raw materials like crude oil and copper and bouts of weakness in commodity-linked currencies.
Other News
The majority of American workers get a bad case of the Sundays due to dreading Monday. LinkedIn surveyed 3,000 individuals employed in the U.S. and found that 66 percent of them reported experiencing the “Sunday scaries” ahead of the workweek. The networking platform used the phrase “Sunday scaries” to refer to the phenomenon of feeling “stress and anxiousness” on a Sunday night ahead of beginning work again on Monday following a weekend off, Fox News reported. The coronavirus pandemic, the survey further found, has only exacerbated the fear: 41 percent of survey respondents reported that their Sunday night unease has been made directly worse by COVID-19, or otherwise become more intense during the course of it. Indeed, close to a third (31 percent) of men surveyed said that, before the pandemic, they’d never experienced the scaries before, and the experience only began during COVID. Young people — namely, those falling into the millennial and Gen Z generations — reported being the most impacted of any age group by the phenomenon. In both groups, a vast 78 percent majority of respondents said they experience work-related stress on Sundays. As unpleasant as the Sunday scaries may be, though, at least one expert believes they are not a surefire sign that your job is toxic or that you’re in need of a work-related change — possibly, sufferers just need to infuse something a bit more enjoyable into their routine. “The Sunday scaries are not necessarily a sign that you need to leave your job or change careers,” LinkedIn Career job expert Catherine Fisher told Fox. “A few things you can do proactively to help you feel excited to get back to work include building an action plan on Sunday night so you can hit the ground running on Monday morning or planning something to look forward to on Monday, like a virtual coffee date with a favorite colleague.”
