Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.2% to 7,181.00
  • Dow Average down 0.5% to 32,722.33
  • Aussie little changed at 0.6735 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield little changed at 3.9122%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 3.8 bps to 3.60%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 2.3 bps to 3.85%
  • Gold spot up 0.7% to $1,829.30
  • Brent futures up 1.7% to $83.89/bbl

Economic Events

  • 09:00: (AU) Feb. Judo Bank Australia PMI Mfg, prior 50.1
  • 09:30: (AU) RBA’s Jones-Remarks
  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1.2 Billion 1.75% 2032 Bonds
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. CPI YoY, est. 8.1%, prior 8.4%
  • 11:30: (AU) 4Q GDP YoY, est. 2.7%, prior 5.9%
  • 11:30: (AU) 4Q GDP SA QoQ, est. 0.8%, prior 0.6%

Stocks dropped during the last stretch of Tuesday’s session and bonds pared earlier losses as investors rounded out a brutal month for both assets with low-conviction moves.

The S&P 500 suffered a February drop of 2.6%. The Nasdaq 100 also didn’t manage to avert a monthly decline. A dollar index rose the most in February since September. The yield on two-year Treasuries climbed more than 10 basis points for the month. The benchmark 10-year rate, meanwhile, rose more than 40 basis points in February.

Other News

Sydney property prices, the bellwether of the Australia market, advanced for the first time in 13 months in February in a positive sign for home values that have been under pressure from rising interest rates.

Prices in Sydney climbed 0.3% last month, their first increase since January 2022, while Melbourne and Brisbane slipped 0.4% apiece, CoreLogic Inc. data showed Wednesday. That sent the combined capitals index down 0.1%.

The property consultancy’s national home value index fell 0.1%, the smallest decline since May, when the Reserve Bank began its policy tightening cycle.

The increase in Sydney was driven by the upper quartile, or higher-end properties, signaling a possible turnaround in the city’s market as the segment tends to lead both upswings and downturns, CoreLogic said.

Australia’s housing market has been in the doldrums for the past nine months as the RBA embarked on its most aggressive tightening cycle in a decade to try to rein in spiraling inflation. The central bank surprised markets last month when it signaled it wasn’t done yet and expected further hikes to come.

Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, expressed doubts over whether Sydney’s rebound would spread to other cities, saying the latest price stabilization coincided with low supply and a rise in auction clearance rates.

(Bloomberg)