Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.5% to 7,184.00
- Dow Average down 0.4% to 34,288.64
- Aussie down 0.6% to 0.6655 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 7.6bps to 3.9315%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 0.1 bps to 3.98%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 0.6 bps to 4.00%
- Gold spot down 0.5% to $1,915.11
- Brent futures up 0.4% to $76.59/bbl
Economic Events
- 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 98-Day Bills
- 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 112-Day Bills
- 11:30: (AU) May Exports MoM, prior -5%
- 11:30: (AU) May Imports MoM, prior 2%
- 11:30: (AU) May International Trade Balance, est. A$10.9b, prior A$11.2b
Asian shares followed Wall Street lower on Thursday after hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes damped investor sentiment.
Japan led the declines, with the Topix index on course for a third straight drop, trimming its 20% rally this year. Benchmarks in Australia and South Korea also fell, along with futures for Hong Kong.
The S&P 500 declined 0.2% Wednesday while the Nasdaq 100 fell less than 0.1%. Contracts for these gauges edged lower in early Asian trading as investors also looked ahead to US jobs data over the next two days that will further illuminate the path for interest rates.
Australia’s 10-year bond yield rose around seven basis points while New Zealand’s rose six basis points following further selling in US government bonds on Wednesday.
Treasuries steadied in Asia on Thursday after the 10-year yield jumped to 3.93% in the previous session and the two-year rate inched up to 4.94% — putting each maturity around the highest level since March.
The action was driven by Fed minutes showing division among policymakers over the decision to pause in the central bank’s June meeting, with the voting members on track to take rates higher this month.
