Markets Overview
- ASX SPI 200 futures up 0.3% to 7,450.00
- Dow Average up 0.4% to 34,031.93
- Aussie up 0.8% to 0.6941 per US$
- U.S. 10-year yield rose 3.2bps to 3.6735%
- Australia 3-year bond yield rose 15 bps to 3.25%
- Australia 10-year bond yield rose 14 bps to 3.60%
- Gold spot up 0.2% to $1,871.70
- Brent futures up 3.5% to $83.79/bbl
Economic Events
- 11:00: (AU) Australia to Sell A$1 Billion 3% 2033 Bonds
- Australia reported a fifth consecutive year of trade surpluses and opened 2023 with the prospect of further bolstering overseas shipments as it reheats relations with China.
Stock traders bracing for Jerome Powell to push back against the powerful rally that led to a loosening in financial conditions didn’t really get that, with the market finding encouragement to move higher.
The S&P 500 halted a two-day slide that was driven mostly by overbought conditions. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed over 2%, with giants Microsoft Corp. and Google’s parent Alphabet Inc. soaring. The dollar fell alongside Treasury two-year yields, which are more sensitive to imminent Fed moves.
Other News
Gather your items and shove them in various pants pockets: cargo pants are back — and now, they’re surprisingly chic.
In January, Jennifer Lopez strutted around New York City wearing beige woolen cargo pants in a flowing, wide leg style — a sophisticated twist from the heavy pocket version with a severe taper that she wore in 2002.
While the utilitarian trousers would have once conjured images of stiff camouflaged fabric, the latest versions are free-flowing and feature a wider leg that’s more pretty than practical.
It’s a “nostalgia for the styles from back in the early 2000s, that Gen Z tends to be gravitating towards,” Liz Teich, a New York-based stylist, told The Post. “They’re all going back to the photos for inspiration and old movies and TV shows.”
Female R&B and pop artists — like TLC, the Spice Girls and J.Lo — made the cargo cool in the aughts. Now the pants are back, with brands like Phillip Lim and Fendi featuring the style in their Resort 2023 campaigns.
“It’s really trickling down from high-end high fashion down all the way to mainstream,” Teich said. “I even saw the other day that Banana Republic was [styling them] as a work pant.”
Cargo pants are moving in a more sophisticated direction, with Teich explaining the current iteration of the utilitarian garment has been designed in a more “innovative way” than the traditional baggy cargo pants we saw in the early 2000s.
(New York Post)
