Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.6% to 6,468.00
- Dow Average down 0.4% to 29,134.99
- Aussie down 0.3% to 0.6434 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 2.1bps to 3.9451%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 4 bps to 3.68%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 3.8 bps to 4.02%
- Gold spot up 0.4% to $1,629.41
- Brent futures up 2.0% to $85.71/bbl
Economic Events
- 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$800 Million 3% 2033 Bonds
- 11:30: (AU) Aug. Retail Sales MoM, est. 0.4%, prior 1.3%
US stocks ended a volatile session lower after a slew of Federal Reserve officials hammered home their resolve to remain aggressive in their fight against inflation.
The S&P 500 dropped for the sixth straight session, its longest losing streak since February 2020, sparked by harsh central bank tightening programs. The index swung between gains and losses throughout the session after the Federal Reserve’s James Bullard added to a chorus of officials saying more rate hikes are needed and the risks to the economy remain elevated.
Longer-dated Treasuries swung to a loss, erasing an earlier rebound. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index set a fresh record high as investors sought haven assets.
Risk assets have been in a tailspin since the Fed delivered a third jumbo hike and warned of more pain to come. An escalation of Russia’s energy conflict with Europe after three pipelines were wrecked in suspected sabotage pushed European natural gas prices higher, further bruising sentiment during the session.
Investors also digested a flurry of data on Tuesday, including core capital goods orders and consumer sentiment, that paint a picture of an economy that can likely withstand additional harsh central bank tightening.
Other News
In the U.S. a person may take knowing the local time for granted, but an official review revealed that there is no single, accurate map showing the nation’s time zones and local observance of Daylight Saving Time.
Federal transportation officials are now at work creating an accurate map of the nation’s time zones, according to a report by the inspector general for the Department of Transportation.
The issue came up, the inspector general’s office said, after the US Senate passed legislation this year to end the biannual time turn by making Daylight Saving Time permanent.
Investigators found no single map accurately showing the boundaries nationwide and said several sources of time information on the DOT website contained errors, such as inaccurately noting the time practices in some localities. For example, one map incorrectly identifies a deviation in Nevada: “Elko County, NV is shown as the location that changed time zones rather than the correct location, the city of West Wendover.”
“The official boundaries are narratively described [in federal regulations] with various types of coordinates and geographic features such as lines of longitude, State or county lines, and rivers,” the report stated.
Inspector general investigators presented the findings to the Department of Transportation. The department’s top lawyer, John Putnam, responded in a memo that officials are fixing the issues and are “developing an official DOT time zone map.”
The inspector general report said the Transportation Department is responsible for keeping the clock because of the importance of time to travel. It said the original five time zones have expanded to nine.
(CNN)
