Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 1.2% to 6,624.00
- Dow Average up 2.4% to 31,827.05
- Aussie up 1.3% to 0.6899 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 3.5bps to 3.0209%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 9.7 bps to 3.13%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 7.4 bps to 3.51%
- Gold spot up 0.1% to $1,711.64
- Brent futures up 0.8% to $107.15/bbl
Economic Events
- 09:10: (AU) RBA’s Lowe-Speech
- 10:30: (AU) June Westpac Leading Index MoM, prior -0.06%
- 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$800 Million 1.25% 2032 Bonds
US stocks surged in a broad-based rally as investors assessed the outlook for earnings and as speculation grew that markets may have come close to bottoming out.
The S&P 500 defied the late-day reversal that has been a cornerstone of this volatile market, closing near session highs in its biggest one-day gain since June 24 as all 11 industry groups advanced. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 outperformed major benchmarks, ending 3.1% higher, with megacaps Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. bouncing back from Monday’s losses.
The dollar fell against all Group-of-10 peers except the yen. Treasuries traded lower, with the 10-year yield rising back above 3%.
Other News
Despite rapidly rising inflation, Costco has said they will not be raising the price of their US$1.50 hot dog and soda combo that is available at their stores.
The combo has been a staple for Costco shoppers since 1985, when Costco decided to start selling them out of a hot dog cart at the original location in Seattle, Washington.
‘That $1.50 price point has been sacrosanct from the very beginning,’ Richard Galanti, chief financial officer at Costco, told The Wall Street Journal.
Galanti said the hot dog has ‘become somewhat of a signature item for us,’ and claimed the company sells approximately 130 million hot dogs a year across its 833 warehouse locations.
If Costco’s hot dog price were to keep up with inflation, it would currently cost about $4.13, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The executive declined to say whether they would raise the price of the $60 membership fee, but noted the company usually does so every five years – and the last time they raised it was in 2017.
The company has made a point of increasing its membership fee by only $5 when it does go up.
In 1983, the price for a membership was $25, and that fee went up by only $5 in the years 1992, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2011 and 2017.
Costco has raised the price of other items at their food courts to keep up with inflation, including pizzas and chicken bakes.
Galanti declined to comment on whether they would be raising the price of other items on the menu.
Many retailers have been forced to pump up their prices due to historically high inflation, which soared to 9.1% in June 2022 from a year ago.
The inflation hike is the biggest 12-month increase in nearly four decades, and up from an 8.6% jump in May.
(Daily Mail)
