Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.3% to 7,187.00
  • Dow Average down 0.7% to 32,990.12
  • Aussie down 0.3% to 0.7177 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield rose 10.6bps to 2.8441%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield rose 8bps to 2.84%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield rose 10bps to 3.35%
  • Gold spot down 1.0% to $1,837.50
  • Brent futures up 1.0% to $122.84/bbl

Economic Events

  • 9am: (AU) May S&P Global Australia PMI Mfg, prior 55.3
  • 11am: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 3.25% 2025 Bonds
  • 11:30am: (AU) 1Q GDP YoY, est. 3.0%, prior 4.2%
  • 11:30am: (AU) 1Q GDP SA QoQ, est. 0.7%, prior 3.4%
  • 4:30pm: (AU) May Commodity Index SDR YoY, prior 39.9%
  • 4:30pm: (AU) May Commodity Index AUD, prior 153.1

Stocks in Asia look set to kick off June lower after ending a month marked by intense volatility as fears of aggressive monetary tightening to fight inflation mounted. Treasury yields and the dollar jumped.

Futures fell in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. The S&P 500 retreated, ending May virtually flat, while the Nasdaq 100 also pulled back, falling for a fourth month in five.

Chinese stocks listed in the US posted their first monthly gain since October after easing lockdown measures raised hopes that economic activity will pick up.

Treasuries extended a decline, pushing 10-year yields up about 10 basis points as traders raised bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes. Swaps show traders have almost fully priced in two half-point rate increases in June and July, with even odds of a third such hike in September. Adding to the inflation worries, crude oil rose about 10% in May.

Other News

A glass-bottomed walkway in Vietnam, which opened to much public fanfare in April, has been declared the world’s longest bridge of its kind by Guinness World Records.

The previous record for world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge was held by a structure measuring 1,726 feet in length in Guangdong, China.

Located in the rural highland region of Son La province in northwestern Vietnam, the Bach Long bridge connects visitors to a popular mountain resort and offers impressive panoramic views of lush mountain rainforest.

Suspended approximately 492 feet above ground and measuring 2,073 feet in length, the glass bridge was a joint collaboration between local tourism authorities and a French construction company to revive tourism, badly hit by the global pandemic when the country shut its borders to international visitors.

It is said to be strong enough to support up to 450 people at a time. An SUV was recently driven over it to test its strength.

Guinness World Records officials certified the bridge over the weekend, local media outlets reported.

It is the third glass bridge to be built in Vietnam. In 2018, another spectacular mountain footbridge, held up by a pair of enormous stone hands, made global headlines after it opened in the Ba Na Hills area in Central Vietnam.

(CNN)