Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.1% to 7,121.00
- Dow Average down 0.4% to 33,169.31
- Aussie up 0.6% to 0.7367 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 4.9bps to 2.0021%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 4bps to 1.78%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 5bps to 2.37%
- Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,996.04
- Brent futures down 1.4% to $109.62/bbl
Economic Events
- 9:15am: (AU) RBA’s Lowe-Panel
U.S. stocks fell and Treasury yields pushed higher after inflation accelerated for a sixth successive month and the Russian attack on Ukraine showed no sign of letting up. Oil declined and the dollar rose.
While the jump in U.S. consumer prices was in line with forecasts, it reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve next week will start raising interest rates to contain inflation that some economists see rising above 8%. That’s because the Ukraine war and U.S. President Joe Biden’s ban on Russian energy imports tightened oil supplies.
Other News
Stephen Miller, the former adviser Trump adviser known for pushing the administration’s family separation policy at the U.S.-Mexico border, is suing to block the Jan. 6 committee from obtaining his phone records. The suit argues that the phone records requested contain sensitive family information, and notes that Miller is still on his parents’ T-Mobile cell phone plan.
The Jan. 6 committee initially subpoenaed him in November, noting that Miller pushed disinformation about election fraud following the 2020 election. Miller took issue with this, as well. “There are no facts that show that Mr. Miller had any role in what happened there or otherwise engaged in any unlawful efforts to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to the Biden administration,” the suit reads.
