Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.2% to 7,377.00
- Dow Average up 0.3% to 33,987.18
- Aussie little changed at 0.6701 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 8.8bps to 3.6004%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 3.8 bps to 2.99%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 4.8 bps to 3.37%
- Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,995.05
- Brent futures down 1.7% to $84.80/bbl
Economic Events
- 09:00: (AU) March CBA Household Spending MoM, prior -0.1%
- 09:00: (AU) March CBA Household Spending YoY, prior 4.5%
- 11:30: (AU) RBA Minutes of April Policy Meeting
Asian share markets were poised for another cautious open on Tuesday ahead of key economic data from China and after stocks on Wall Street eked out small gains late in the session.
Futures pointed to a small advance for Japanese equities while Hong Kong and Australia looked set for slight declines. The possibility of further Federal Reserve policy tightening lifted Treasury yields and constrained US stocks, with the S&P 500 erasing losses in afternoon trading and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 underperforming major equity benchmarks.
Two-year Treasury yields climbed to around 4.2%. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said he wants to see more evidence that US inflation is easing back to the central bank’s goal of 2%. New York state manufacturing activity unexpectedly expanded in April for the first time in five months as new orders and shipments snapped back.
Much of the focus in Asia will be on China and the strength of its economic recovery. Figures on Tuesday are projected to show gross domestic product expanded 4% in the first quarter from a year earlier, well below the government’s target for full-year growth of around 5%. March data may show increases in industrial output, investment and retail sales.
Elsewhere, minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s policy meeting earlier this month will be parsed for signs that rates may be lifted again after a pause, while Indonesia’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark unchanged.
Other News
Their love is real — but their vows are simulated.
With the help of ChatGPT, one San Diego couple generated the wedding vows of their dreams.
Elyse Nguyen, who married her husband in February, turned to Open AI’s viral software in a pinch to draft her vows. What initially began as a bit of a joke shockingly provided the foundation for her speech.
ChatGPT’s initial output was “cheesy,” the Qualcomm financial analyst told CNN, but “the essence of what vows should incorporate was there — our promises to each other and structure.”
With a touch of personal flare, the addition of a few details and her partner on-board, Nguyen was satisfied with her promises — all thanks to AI assistance.
The software has become a technological sensation, used by Tinder bachelors to woo matches and abused by students to write essays. Even with its bad rap — the tech was banned in Italy last month over “privacy” and “safety” concerns — engaged lovebirds are giving AI a shot.
Fiancés Michael Grinn and Kate Gardiner employed ChatGPT to write the Ketubah, a traditional Jewish marriage contract, for their upcoming Wisconsin wedding in June. Although it required a few tweaks, the pair were shocked by what developed.
“At the end, we both looked at each other and were like, we can’t disagree with the result,” Grinn, an anesthesiologist practicing in New York and Miami, told CNN.
He refuses to use the software to pen his vows — because he wants his nuptial promises to “be less refined, and something no one else helped me with.”
But he’ll utilize it to officiate his best man’s wedding, saying it’s “so efficient” for him as someone who has “been working so much” and lacks ample time to prepare.
Joy, a wedding planning website, offers ChatGPT software to alleviate writer’s block — making the service one of the first third-party platforms to incorporate the Open AI tech since access to the chatbot was recently opened.
Ellen Le used the Joy tool to create the “about us” content and venue directions on her wedding website. While the first draft contained inaccuracies — it made up “certain details” of the couple’s love story — it still provided a “helping hand and something to react to, rather than just spending 10 hours thinking about how to get started.”
Joy CEO and co-founder Vishal Joshi, who considers himself an “AI enthusiast,” said the company has seen thousands of submissions through the Writer’s Block Assistant since it launched last month. The feature was inspired by a survey of Joy users that revealed they were overwhelmed by the speechwriting process.
“Almost two decades ago, AI enthusiasts like myself and my research peers had only dreamt of mass market adoption we are seeing today, and we know this is just the true beginning,” he told CNN. “Just like smartphones, if applied well, the positive impact of AI on our lives can far outshine the negatives.
“We’re working on responsibly innovating using AI to advance the wedding and event industry as a whole,” he added.
But not everyone is aboard the AI train. The technologically advanced software has prompted President Biden’s administration to consider new regulations amid concerns over its capabilities. Last month, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania warned the smart chatbot could put people out of a job.
The alarm bells follow Bill Gates’ applause for AI systems and Google’s plans to add a chatbot feature to its successful search engine.
“The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet and the mobile phone,” Microsoft founder Gates wrote in a March blog post. “It will change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care and communicate with each other.”
(New York Post)
