Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.5% to 7,408.00
  • Dow Average down 0.8% to 35,343.28
  • Aussie down 1.1% to 0.7255 per US$
  • U.S. 10-year yield little changed at 1.2617%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 3bps to 0.23%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 2bps to 1.14%
  • Gold spot down 0.1% to $1,785.32
  • Brent futures down 0.6% to $69.08/bbl

Economic Events

  • 10:30am: (AU) July Westpac Leading Index MoM, prior -0.07%
  • 11am: (AU) Australia to Sell A$800 Million 1.5% 2031 Bonds
  • 11:30am: (AU) 2Q Wage Price Index QoQ, est. 0.6%, prior 0.6%
  • 11:30am: (AU) 2Q Wage Price Index YoY, est. 1.9%, prior 1.5%

Asian stocks look set to come under pressure Wednesday after U.S. equities suffered their worst drop in a month on concern that a resurgent coronavirus will hurt the economic recovery. A gauge of the dollar rallied.
Futures fell in Australia and Hong Kong and wavered in Japan. U.S. contracts dipped after the S&P 500 snapped a five-day rally and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 retreated. Chinese equities listed in the U.S. tumbled again after Beijing ramped up a regulatory crackdown, with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc. and JD.com Inc. among those suffering.
Treasuries were steady ahead of the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes on Wednesday and the outlook for yields remains highly uncertain. Traders are evaluating whether elevated inflation will prove transitory, while also monitoring the impact of the delta virus variant and the prospect of reduced stimulus support.

Other News

United Airlines has asked its employees to not use duct tape to restrain unruly passengers.
In a memo sent to employees last Friday, United flight attendants were urged to “please remember that there are designated items onboard that may be used in difficult situations, and alternative measures such as tape should never be used”.
A pandemic restrictions lift, flight attendants across the US have been grappling with an unprecedented rise in unruly passenger behavior.
The United memo came soon after American Airlines flight attendants restrained a woman with tape after she tried to open the plane’s doors during a flight.
Shortly after that incident, duct tape was used on Frontier Airlines, when attendants restrained a man in his seat after he acted aggressively and allegedly grabbed an attendant’s breasts.
United attendants have duct-taped passengers before.
In 2003, the airline duct-taped a disruptive passenger on a flight from Honolulu to Los Angeles, after he “began talking and wandering the aisle … pacing and reading the Bible”.
A few years later in 2008, the airline used duct tape on a passenger after she became violent on a Chicago-bound Puerto Rico flight, fighting attendants and grabbing other passengers.
Tape was not used in 2017 when United attendants dragged a doctor off a flight after he refused to give up his seat to employees of a partner airline. David Dao, then 69 and a father of five, lost teeth and suffered a broken nose and concussion. He sued and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum.
The United memo also said “the overwhelming majority of our customers have been on their best behavior … and returned to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm”.
In instances of disorderly behavior, United said, employees should resort to standard de-escalation measures, including using “the huddle process … which involves discussing the situation with the captain, customer service representative and ground security coordinator for evaluation and solutions”.
Attendants were also directed to use the safety manual to guide decision-making if they feel a customer should be denied onboard service.
Employees were also reminded that “in the event [they] are unable to reach an agreement with a customer about one of our safety-related policies, [they] should follow [their] regular de-escalation and training process and always use [their] best judgment”.