Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.3% to 7,071.00
- Dow Average down 0.7% to 32,944.19
- Aussie down 0.9% to 0.7294 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield little changed at 1.9917%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 3bps to 1.81%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 3bps to 2.40%
- Gold spot down 0.4% to $1,988.46
- Brent futures up 3.1% to $112.67/bbl
Economic Events
Stocks face more volatility Monday as the war in Ukraine rages and markets brace for the Federal Reserve to begin hiking interest rates this week to fight elevated inflation.
Investors were parsing efforts at diplomacy as well as comments from a U.S. official that Russia asked China for military equipment to support its invasion of Ukraine. Equity futures for Japan and Hong Kong fell before the latest developments in the conflict, while Australia’s signaled a muted start.
The dollar was mixed against major peers in early trading in Asia. The Russian ruble was indicated slightly stronger versus the greenback.
The Fed on Wednesday is expected to begin a cycle of rate increases with a 25-basis-point move, seeking to tame price pressures that are being stoked by surging commodity costs amid supply disruptions due to the war.
The flattening U.S. Treasury yield curve, and a 12% drop in global stocks this year, signal worries that the world economic recovery from the pandemic will lose impetus given the risks from the conflict and soaring commodities.
Other News
An unfortunate student has been left feeling defeated after unknowingly eating a Cadbury’s Creme Egg which would have bagged him £10,000.
The once-peckish man had never tried a Creme Egg before and said he enjoyed it, until he saw an advert about the cash prizes on offer at which point he said it tasted ‘like regret’.
The 21-year-old who is studying and living in the UK anonymously shared his story on Reddit, describing how he found one of the 145 cash prize winning eggs.
Eager to see if he could possibly still win himself some cash, the student went back to the public bin he disposed the wrapper, after someone suggested there was a code on the wrapper, and he didn’t need the egg itself.
But upon returning to the public bin he put the wrapper in, he found it had been cleared.
