Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.3% to 6,820.00
- Dow Average up 0.5% to 31,656.42
- Aussie down 0.8% to 0.6788 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 6.1bps to 3.2533%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 7.8 bps to 3.28%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 9 bps to 3.69%
- Gold spot down 0.8% to $1,697.34
- Brent futures down 3.7% to $92.08/bbl
Economic Events
- 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$500 Million 0.25% 2025 Bonds
A surprising late-day reversal took US stocks higher as investors await Friday’s jobs report to gauge how hawkish the Federal Reserve will be. Recent data pointed to a resilient US economy, buoying sentiment later in the day.
The S&P 500 ended its losing streak on Thursday, after falling for most of the session. The Nasdaq 100 finished the day flat. Treasuries slumped amid a selloff that left the two-year yield at the highest in almost 15 years. The dollar surged to a record high on speculation that latest data will force the central bank to raise rates by three-quarters of a percentage point at its meeting later this month.
Other News
A grandma and grandson are soon set to finish a ‘magical’ seven-year challenge to visit all of America’s 63 state parks, which has seen them become best friends.
Brad Ryan, from Washington DC and his 92-year-old grandmother Joy, from Duncan Falls, Ohio, will finish their huge road trip by visiting the National Park of American Samoa this year.
Their feat began in 2015, because Joy confessed to her grandson that she had never seen a mountain range in person or been camping during her lifetime.
Brad, who was a veterinarian student at the time, had told her of his adventure to the Appalachian Trail and she said she wished she had done something like that herself, according to CBS News.
So Brad decided to change that, shocked by his nature-loving grandma’s admission, and asked her to go on a road trip with him to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Since, according to the Washington Post, they have continued their epic adventures and traveled almost 50,000 miles on the open road together, visiting 62 of America’s 63 National Parks.
Their life-changing adventure has seen them climb mountains together and tackle white-water rafting, as well as sleep under the stars in stunning locations such as Joshua Tree National Park in Colorado.
All the while, perhaps most amazingly for both of them, they have become ‘best friends’, after reconnecting and strengthening the bond they once lost when they did not speak for 10 years- in the midst of Brad’s parents divorce.
Joy has also helped Brad to become more resilient, as she supported him through mental health struggles that he was suffering with before their first 2015 trip.
(Daily Mail)
