Markets Overview

  • ASX SPI 200 futures down 0.4% to 7,800.00
  • Dow Average down 0.8% to 39,112.16
  • Aussie down 0.2% to 0.6647 per US$
  • US 10-year yield rose 1.4bps to 4.2457%
  • Australia 3-year bond yield fell 0.7 bps to 3.93%
  • Australia 10-year bond yield fell 1.7 bps to 4.20%
  • Gold spot down 0.6% to $2,319.59
  • Brent futures down 1.3% to $84.91/bbl

Economic Events

  • 09:35: (AU) RBA’s Kent-Speech
  • 10:30: (AU) May Westpac Leading Index MoM, prior -0.03%
  • 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$600 Million 3.5% 2034 Bonds
  • 11:30: (AU) May CPI YoY, est. 3.8%, prior 3.6%

A rally in the world’s largest tech companies lifted stocks, with Nvidia Corp. climbing roughly 7% after a $430 billion rout.

Equities extended their June advance as the giant chipmaker led gains in the “Magnificent Seven” cohort of megacaps. In late trading, FedEx Corp. — a barometer of economic growth — jumped about 15% on a bullish forecast. Rivian Automotive Inc. surged as Volkswagen AG will invest $5 billion to form a joint venture with the electric-vehicle maker. Treasuries barely budged after a $69 billion two-year US sale got the expected yield and good demand, kicking off this week’s trio of auctions.

US consumer confidence eased on a more muted outlook for business conditions, the job market and incomes. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said she sees a number of upside risks to the inflation outlook. Her colleague Lisa Cook said it will be appropriate to reduce rates “at some point,” adding that she expects inflation to improve gradually this year.

The S&P 500 closed near 5,470. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.2%. Treasury 10-year yields were little changed at 4.23%.

Other News

Blacklisting the coal industry won’t get the world to net zero emissions, according to an Australian pension fund that says such exclusions ultimately slow down the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Vision Super Pty., which oversees a A$14 billion ($9.3 billion) portfolio, is adding its voice to an increasingly heated debate on how institutional investors should tackle climate change.

“We don’t think exclusions make any difference in practice to getting to net zero,” Chief Investment Officer Michael Wyrsch said in an interview on Tuesday. “We don’t see it as a victory, us holding a net zero portfolio while the world goes to hell in the hand basket, which is its current trajectory.”

In Europe, some of the region’s biggest pensions investors have started purging their portfolios of fossil-fuel assets. But others in the asset management industry are increasingly taking issue with that approach. Money managers need to incentivize the right behavior rather than simply focus on whether an investment is aligned to net zero, according to Climate Arc, a nonprofit backed by billionaire Chris Hohn.

Vision Super is among a growing list of global investors reviewing the impact of fossil-fuel restrictions. Last year, it abandoned thermal coal exclusions and introduced new emissions targets for its equities portfolio. External managers must ensure a portfolio has a carbon intensity that’s 30% lower than a benchmark of Australia’s top 100 companies, Wyrsch said.

Vision Super, which is set to combine next March with rival Active Super, has added about A$4.9 million worth of externally managed shares in Whitehaven Coal Ltd. after the fund revised restrictions on the fuel, and has used its holding to press the producer on issues including climate disclosures, Wyrsch said. Earlier this week, the fund was criticized by an activist group over the investment.

Curbs on tobacco and some weapons manufacturers have been kept in place. All of the fund’s international and domestic equities investments are managed externally.

Vision Super last year backed efforts to remove a prominent director from Woodside Energy Group Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer. The fund also cast votes at Whitehaven’s annual meeting against management and in favor of better climate reporting, according to Wyrsch.

More than 40% of shareholder votes were lodged against the adoption of Whitehaven’s remuneration report at an October meeting.

(Bloomberg)