Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.8% to 7,915.00
  • Dow Average up 0.9% to 41,871.40
  • Aussie up 1.0% to 0.6387 per US$
  • US 10-year yield fell 1.1bps to 4.3024%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield little changed at 3.77%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 1.2 bps to 4.41%
  • Gold spot up 0.5% to $3,000.26
  • Brent futures up 0.6% to $71.02/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:15: (AU) RBA’s Hunter-Speech

US stocks climbed for a second day, extending the recovery from a sharp drop that reached 10% last week, as industrial and energy shares rallied on economic data that while missing forecasts was able to quell concern about an imminent recession.

More than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 rose, overshadowing a slide in most megacaps. An equal-weighted version of the benchmark — one that gives Target Corp. as much clout as Apple Inc. — climbed 1.3%. While the latest economic data did little to alter traders’ bets on the Federal Reserve outlook, mixed retail sales brought some relief that consumer spending is not collapsing. As the chatter around tariffs subsided, equities continued to push away from technically oversold levels.

“Corrections that occur within a bull market, tend to be good buying opportunities,” said David Lefkowitz at UBS Global Wealth Management. “The spike in policy uncertainty hit the market at a time when investor positioning and sentiment were quite elevated. But we think a lot of this has now been cleaned up.”

To Michael Wilson at Morgan Stanley, sentiment/positioning gauges have lightened up considerably and seasonals are set to improve in the second half of March. That should provide support for a short-term rally led by the lower-quality, higher-beta stocks that have sold off the most.

“The more important question is whether such a rally is likely to extend into something more durable and mark the end of the volatility we’ve seen year to date,” said Wilson. “The short answer is, probably not.”

The S&P 500 climbed 0.6%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9%. A gauge of the Magnificent Seven megacaps fell 1.1%. The Russell 2000 gained 1.2%.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.30%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3%.