Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.6% to 7,187.00
- Dow Average up 0.4% to 34,212.12
- Aussie up 0.2% to 0.6767 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 8.0bps to 3.8152%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 1.1 bps to 3.84%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 1.7 bps to 3.93%
- Gold spot down 0.7% to $1,943.58
- Brent futures up 3.2% to $74.15/bbl
Economic Events
Asian equities were poised to climb as traders bet that a slowdown in US inflation had minimized any risk of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates later on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 provided a strong lead from Wall Street for Asia’s benchmarks, rising for a fourth consecutive day — its longest winning run since early April — and approaching the 4,400 mark. Futures for Japan pointed to a gain of more than 1% while contracts for Australia and Hong Hong Kong were also higher.
Wall Street’s “fear gauge” — the Cboe Volatility Index — dropped back below 15, versus an average of 23 for the past year, underscoring support for risk assets. The dollar held declines from the US session in early Asian trading.
Swap traders have put the odds of a June increase by the Fed at only 10%, while still seeing the potential for a July move.
Investors in Asia are also taking positive cues from the outlook from the Bank of Japan, which is expected to keep its ultra-easy policy unchanged Friday, and the People’s Bank of China, which is seen as a chance of cutting its medium-term lending facility rate on Thursday.
Short-term Treasury yields surged Tuesday to the highest levels since March amid a decline in expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates this year. Two-year rates, which are more sensitive to imminent policy moves, climbed nine basis points to 4.67%.
Other News
Guinness World Records has confirmed Hilda Baci as the new record holder for the longest cooking marathon. This was confirmed on their official website on Tuesday.
The post reads, “Following a thorough review of all the evidence, Guinness World Records can now confirm that Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, has officially broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes.
“The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began on Thursday 11 May and continued through to Monday 15 May, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
“Hilda attempted to set a record of 100 hours, however, almost seven hours were deducted from her final total because she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt.”
The previous record of 87 hours 45 minutes was set by Lata Tondon (India) in 2019.
