Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.9% to 7,302.00
- Dow Average down 0.5% to 34,584.88
- Aussie down 0.4% to 0.7264 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 2.5bps to 1.3616%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 2bps to 0.25%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 4bps to 1.30%
- Gold spot little changed at $1,754.34
- Brent futures down 0.4% to $75.34/bbl
Economic Events
Transurban Group will take full control of Sydney motorways company WestConnex by paying more than A$10 billion ($7.3 billion) to New South Wales state for a 49% stake, the AFR reported. Leaders from the U.S., Japan, Australia and India plan to discuss ways to build secure semiconductor supply chains at the Quad summit Friday, the Nikkei reported.
Stocks looked set to fall Monday amid challenges for markets from the debt crisis at China Evergrande Group and a Federal Reserve meeting this week that’s expected to hint at moving toward scaling back stimulus.
Futures for Australia and Hong Kong fell, while markets in Japan, China and South Korea are closed for holidays. The S&P 500 slid the most in a month Friday, a selloff that poses a challenge to the dip-buying psychology in the U.S. as the gauge tests its 50-day moving average. The Nasdaq 100 also retreated.
Ten-year Treasury yields rose ahead of the Fed meeting this week where policy makers are expected to start laying the groundwork for reducing stimulus. Cash Treasuries won’t trade Monday in Asia because of the Japan holiday. The dollar was mixed in early Asian trading after climbing last week.
The offshore yuan will come under scrutiny as investors wait to see if indebted developer Evergrande will continue meeting obligations to bondholders. Investors are pricing in a high likelihood of default, with one of the notes trading at less than 30% of face value.
Other News
Scientists have succeeded in potty-training cows — getting them to urinate in a specially built toilet — in a move that could help curb greenhouse emissions.
When cattle are allowed to graze and relieve themselves freely, the release of their bodily waste can lead to the contamination of local soil and nearby waterways.
And while this problem can be controlled by confining cows to barns, the accumulation of urine and faeces in close quarters can produce ammonia instead.
Leaching into soil, ammonia can be converted by microbes into nitrous oxide — one of the top three greenhouse gases after carbon dioxide and methane.
In fact, agriculture is the largest source of ammonia emissions, with livestock farming accounting for more than half of this contribution.
In their study, experts led from Germany’s Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology designed a toilet for cows that can collect ammonia so it can be treated.
By teaching calves to use this ‘MooLoo’, the team say that it will be possible to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create more open, animal-friendly farms.
