Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.3% to 6,821.00
  • Dow Average little changed at 31,842.86
  • Aussie up 1.5% to 0.6490 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield fell 8.7bps to 4.0152%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 8.2 bps to 3.48%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 16 bps to 3.92%
  • Gold spot up 0.7% to $1,664.35
  • Brent futures up 2.5% to $95.88/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 105-Day Bills
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$500 Million 119-Day Bills
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$500 Million 168-Day Bills
  • 11:30: (AU) 3Q Export Price Index QoQ, est. -7.0%, prior 10.1%
  • 11:30: (AU) 3Q Import Price Index QoQ, est. 0.9%, prior 4.3%

Wall Street saw session of twists and turns on Wednesday, with stocks snapping a three-day rally as earnings from megacap firms highlighted the toll the Federal Reserve, and consequently the surging dollar, had on the economy.

The S&P 500 closed lower and the Nasdaq 100 fell more than 2%. Treasuries gained, with the 10-year yield briefly dropping below 4% as investors mulled the Fed’s path after the Bank of Canada announced a smaller-than-expected rate hike.

Data that released this week showed a contraction in the services and manufacturing sectors and a drop in sales of new US homes, indicating that Fed tightening is starting to hit the economy. But investors still expect the central bank to raise rates by three-quarters of a percentage point during its next meeting before pondering the end of its tightening regime.

Other News

A 14-year-old girl caused a stir at a north Florida middle school this week when she handed out more than $10,000 that officials say she stole from her grandmother’s safe.

Marion County deputies responded to Lake Weir Middle School in Summerfield on Thursday after reports that a student was giving classmates hundreds of dollars each, according to an arrest report. Summerfield is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.

School officials searched the girl’s backpack and found about $2,500, deputies said. The teen said an unknown former student had given her the money and wanted it disseminated. Investigators said they later determined that the girl had broken into her grandmother’s home safe and stolen about $13,500 of the woman’s life savings.

The arrest report doesn’t say why the girl allegedly took the money or why she gave it away to her classmates.

By Friday, officials had recovered about $700 of the money that had been handed out to other students. That money and the $2,500 recovered from the girl’s backpack were returned to the grandmother.

The girl is facing a grand theft charge.

(Click Orlando)