Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.4% to 7,993.00
  • Dow Average up 0.1% to 40,890.49
  • Aussie little changed at 0.6744 per US$
  • US 10-year yield little changed at 3.7991%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 5.8 bps to 3.54%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 5.9 bps to 3.89%
  • Gold spot little changed at $2,512.35
  • Brent futures down 1.4% to $76.12/bbl

Economic Events

  • 09:00: (AU) Aug. Judo Bank Australia PMI Mfg, prior 47.5
  • 09:00: (AU) Aug. Judo Bank Australia PMI Servic, prior 50.4
  • 09:00: (AU) Aug. Judo Bank Australia PMI Compos, prior 49.9
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 77-Day Bills
  • 10:30: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 161-Day Bills

Stocks in Asia were primed for gains Thursday after further signs the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month lifted Wall Street.

Share futures for Japan, Australia and Hong Kong all rose, while a gauge of US-listed Chinese shares climbed 2.4%. Contracts for US equities also edged higher in early Asian trading after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes both advanced Wednesday.

Shorter-term Treasuries outperformed Wednesday, with two-year yields falling almost 10 basis points before paring the move. Treasury 10-year yields fell one basis point to 3.80%. Traders were once again pricing in more than 1 percentage point worth of Fed easing by the end of 2024, starting next month.

The moves followed minutes from the latest Fed policy meeting that showed several officials acknowledged a plausible case for cutting rates, before the central bank voted to keep them steady. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have a chance to offer investors further clarity when he speaks in the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday.

A likely revision to US job growth added further evidence for traders to expect a September rate cut. The number of workers on payrolls will likely be revised down by 818,000 for the 12 months through March — or around 68,000 less each month — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ preliminary benchmark revision. It was the largest downward revision since 2009.

In Asia, data set for release includes inflation in Malaysia, HSBC flash PMIs in India and Taiwan unemployment. South Korea will hand down an interest rate decision.

Elsewhere, China launched an anti-subsidy investigation into dairy imports from the European Union, as trade tensions escalated between the two sides. The probe will target several dairy products, including fresh and processed cheese, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Wednesday.