Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.4% to 7,106.00
- Dow Average up 0.3% to 33,615.81
- Aussie down 0.3% to 0.6894 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 8.3bps to 3.6170%
- Australia 3-year bond yield fell 1.3 bps to 3.33%
- Australia 10-year bond yield fell 0.6 bps to 3.72%
- Gold spot up 0.3% to $1,876.92
- Brent futures up 0.6% to $80.16/bbl
Economic Events
- 11:30: (AU) Nov. Job Vacancies QoQ, prior -2.1%
- 11:30: (AU) Nov. CPI YoY, est. 7.2%, prior 6.9%
- 11:30: (AU) Nov. CPI Trimmed Mean YoY, est. 5.5%, prior 5.3%
- 11:30: (AU) Nov. Retail Sales MoM, est. 0.6%, prior -0.2%
Stocks rose on bets the upcoming consumer price index will show further softening, which could help build the case for the Federal Reserve to slow its pace of rate hikes — even as some officials say it’s too early to declare victory over inflation.
The equity market moved decidedly higher in afternoon New York trading, with the S&P 500 coming back above its key 3,900 mark, which is seen by several technical analysts as a resistance level that could help define a more solid trend. Treasury two-year US yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed decisions, pared their advance while the dollar wavered.
Thursday’s inflation figures are likely to come in cooler than expected, helping stocks extend a bear-market rally, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s sales and trading desk. While consensus expects December’s CPI to slide to a 6.5% annualized pace, the bank’s team including Andrew Tyler sees an almost two-in-three chance for the data to arrive within 10 basis points of the estimate, with a bias to the soft side.
Other News
Billionaire Elon Musk has earned an unfortunate world record after suffering through an unprecedented wealth wipeout in recent months.
Musk, who once ranked as the world’s richest person, shattered the mark for “the largest loss of personal fortune in history,” the experts at Guinness World Records said in a release last week.
After reaching a peak of $340 billion in November 2021, Musk’s fortune plummeted by more than $210 billion to an estimated $130 billion as of Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. Forbes placed Musk’s losses slightly lower at about $182 billion.
By either measure, Musk’s losses broke the previous world record held by Japanese tech investor and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, who lost $58.6 billion off his fortune as the dot-com bubble burst in 2000.
The shocking downturn cost Musk his long-held title as the world’s richest individual. He currently ranks second on Bloomberg’s list, trailing LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, who is worth an estimated $179 billion.
The bulk of Musk’s wealth is tied up in shares of Tesla, which is in the midst of a major slump.
The automaker’s shares plunged by a whopping 65% last year as Tesla contended with supply chain issues, dwindling demand in the key China market and the fallout from Musk’s controversial takeover at Twitter.
The slump has continued into the new year after Tesla’s latest vehicle delivery tallies fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.
Critics say Musk exacerbated the investor confidence crisis facing Tesla by selling off large tranches of stock to fund his $44 billion Twitter acquisition. Meanwhile, Twitter’s revenue has reportedly plummeted as advertisers fled the platform in the wake of Musk’s deal.
Musk has faced significant scrutiny over his actions at Twitter, which have included hundreds of job cuts, clashes with advertisers and an overhaul of the company’s account verification policies.
Musk referenced the Tesla share slump in a recent memo, telling employees to ignore “stock market craziness” and focus on their work.
(New York Post)
