Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.2% to 7,023.00
  • Dow Average up 0.7% to 34,152.011
  • Aussie little changed at 0.7024 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield rose 1.8bps to 2.8041%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 12 bps to 2.93%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 14 bps to 3.22%
  • Gold spot down 0.2% to $1,775.79
  • Brent futures down 2.5% to $92.70/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:30: (AU) July Westpac Leading Index MoM, prior -0.16%
  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$800 Million 1.25% 2032 Bonds
  • 11:30: (AU) 2Q Wage Price Index YoY, est. 2.7%, prior 2.4%
  • 11:30: (AU) 2Q Wage Price Index QoQ, est. 0.8%, prior 0.7%

Stocks look poised for a firm open in Asia on Wednesday after robust earnings from US retailers supported Wall Street shares. Oil held losses in a sign of ongoing worries that the economic outlook is darkening.

Futures rose for Japan, Australia and Hong Kong after Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. helped US shares to a small gain despite a tech-sector drop. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 contracts fluctuated in early Asian trading.

Oil held near a more than six-month low, underlining concerns over the growth outlook. The prospect of the return of Iranian barrels is also pressuring crude.

Shorter-maturity Treasury yields climbed Tuesday, deepening a bond-curve inversion that also flags jitters about the possibility of an economic contraction. The dollar was steady against key peers.

Animal spirits have revived in equities in a contentious bet that inflation and central bank hawkishness are peaking, making a recession less likely. An expected interest-rate hike in New Zealand and the latest Federal Reserve minutes Wednesday will shed some light on whether those wagers are right.

Other News

Kate Jayden, 35, of Derbyshire in England, began running marathon distances of 26.2 miles (42.1 km) every day on December 31, 2021 and finished her incredible run on April 15, this year.

The elusive feat is made more remarkable by the fact that the endurance athlete, who set out to raise funds for refugees, juggled a full-time job and a record-breaking endeavour all the way through.

“Knowing I’d need to continue for 6 hours after 8-9 hours of a work day was overwhelming at times, but discipline and commitment to the reasons I began, overtook when motivation waned,” Kate told Guinness World Records. She had initially only planned to run 100 marathons, a distance equivalent to the 2,620 miles between Aleppo, Syria and the United Kingdom – a route often taken by refugees seeking shelter.

However, the back-breaking effort and fatigue weren’t the only challenges she faced along the way. Kate reported a hurting knee on day 46 but kept at it to see her challenge through. Later, in May, an MRI scan revealed that she ran the rest of her attempt with a fractured knee.