Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.4% to 7,126.00
  • Dow Average up 0.6% to 34,066.33
  • Aussie up 0.1% to 0.6751 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield little changed at 3.7375%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield little changed at 3.83%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield little changed at 3.95%
  • Gold spot down 0.2% to $1,957.61
  • Brent futures down 3.7% to $72.04/bbl

Economic Events

  • 09:15: (AU) May CBA Household Spending YoY, prior 3.7%
  • 09:15: (AU) May CBA Household Spending MoM, prior -4.3%
  • 10:30: (AU) June Westpac Consumer Conf SA MoM, prior -7.9%
  • 10:30: (AU) June Westpac Consumer Conf Index, prior 79.0
  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$150 Million 0.25% 2032 Linkers
  • 11:30: (AU) May NAB Business Conditions, prior 14
  • 11:30: (AU) May NAB Business Confidence, prior 0

Asian equities will open Tuesday with support from a rally on Wall Street amid optimism that the Federal Reserve will pause its most-aggressive tightening campaign in decades.

Futures for Japanese and Australian shares rose while those for Hong Kong fell slightly. Contracts for US benchmarks were marginally higher in Asia after the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 closed at the highest levels since April 2022.

Treasury two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent central bank moves, edged lower Monday. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.

All eyes are on the Federal Open Market Committee, which is expected to keep interest rates in the 5%-5.25% range on Wednesday. This assumes consumer price index data later Tuesday shows subdued inflationary pressure. The likelihood of a hike is higher in July, with swaps showing an almost quarter-point of additional tightening priced in by next month’s meeting.

Traders in Australian markets, which are reopening after a holiday, will be looking to consumer confidence data amid concerns that aggressive monetary-tightening could trigger a recession.

Other News

A professor in Florida who spent 100 days living underwater at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers resurfaced Friday and saw the sun for the first time since March 1.

Dr. Joseph Dituri, known as Dr. Deep Sea, set a new record for the longest time living underwater without depressurization during his stay at Jules’ Undersea Lodge, submerged beneath 30 feet (9.14 meters) of water in a Key Largo lagoon.

“For 100 days I’ve been exploring,” Dituri said. “I’ve been exploring for life, the life of the oceans and the life for generations to come.”

Dituri shattered the previous mark of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes set by two Tennessee professors at the same lodge in 2014. On his 74th. day, Guinness World Records listed Dituri as the record holder on its website.

Dituri spent the nearly 3 months researching how the human body and mind respond to extended exposure to extreme pressure and an isolated environment and was designed to benefit ocean researchers and astronauts on future long-term missions.