Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.8% to 8,032.00
  • Dow Average down 1.1% to 42,529.10
  • Aussie little changed at 0.6339 per US$
  • US 10-year yield little changed at 4.2880%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield rose 8.8 bps to 3.85%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield rose 13 bps to 4.48%
  • Gold spot down 0.1% to $2,915.58
  • Brent futures up 0.5% to $69.64/bbl

Economic Events

  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$700 Million 1% 2030 Bonds
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Household Spending MoM, est. 0.5%, prior 0.4%
  • 11:30: (AU) Jan. Household Spending YoY, est. 3.4%, prior 4.3%
  • 16:30: (AU) Feb. Foreign Reserves, prior A$104.1b

Wall Street traders continued to navigate intense, quick and sharp market swings amid a slew of tariff headlines, with stocks getting pummeled after almost wiping out their losses.

The S&P 500 lost 2% and the Nasdaq 100 sank 3%, with the tech-heavy gauge on the brink of a technical correction. Sentiment was so fragile that equities failed to stage a rebound even after President Donald Trump’s decision to delay levies on Mexican and Canadian goods covered by the North American trade deal. The dollar fell, while the peso and the loonie rose.

“Volatility seems like the only certainty as policies are implemented, challenged, modified, then often re-implemented,” said Chris Low at FHN Financial.

A slide in technology shares dragged down the market, with Nvidia Corp. leading a rout in megacaps. Marvell Technology Inc. plunged as its outlook disappointed investors looking for a bigger payoff from the artificial-intelligence boom. Traders will get another pulse-check on the AI front with Broadcom Inc.’s results after the closing bell.

Just 24 hours ahead of the all-important US payrolls report, data showed jobless claims fell last week, offering some relief after other figures pointed to a worsening labor-market. The employment print is expected to show a pick in job growth. Data was collected prior to many of the federal cuts.

The S&P 500 hovered near its 200-day moving average — seen by some chartists as a harbinger of further declines when breached. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3%. A gauge of the Magnificent Seven megacaps sank 3.2%. The Russell 2000 slid 1.7%.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.28%. A dollar gauge dropped 0.2%.