Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.4% to 7,119.00
- Dow Average down 0.5% to 33,614.80
- Aussie up 0.5% to 0.7368 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield fell 10.9bps to 1.7307%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 2bps to 1.56%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 2bps to 2.15%
- Gold spot up 1.8% to $1,970.70
- Brent futures up 6.9% to $118.11/bbl
Economic Events
- 11am: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 0.25% 2024 Bonds
- 11:30am: (AU) Feb. ANZ Job Advertisements MoM, prior -0.3%
- 4:30pm: (AU) Feb. Foreign Reserves, prior A$81.1b
As traders grapple with the breakout of war in Europe, the prospect of a new regulatory crackdown in China is posing a larger, yet less appreciated, risk to emerging-market assets.
A meltdown in Chinese technology shares after authorities told food-delivery platforms to cut their fees last month has fueled bigger losses for MSCI Inc.’s Emerging Markets Index than even Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That’s because China accounts for about 30% of the gauge, while Russia is just over 1.5%. Traders are now concerned that this week’s meeting of the National People’s Congress could precede a renewed crackdown — even as opening remarks from Premier Li Keqiang emphasized that venture capital still has a role to play.
Other News
Sci-fi films and TV shows have routinely depicted a brutal race of aliens visiting Earth in their spaceships and enslaving unfortunate Earthlings.
But according to one expert, extraterrestrial life may actually be too scared of ‘dangerous’ and ‘violent’ humans to want to come here.
Dr Gordon Gallup, a biopsychologist at the University of Albany, argues that humans are ‘dangerous, violent and ceaselessly engage in endless bloody conflicts and war’.
For this reason, aliens with the technological capability of making a visit to Earth – if they exist – are likely inclined to stay away for fear of death and genocide, according to Dr Gallup.
Dr Gallup has presented his argument in an open access paper published in the Journal of Astrobiology this month.
