Originally published by Rivkin Securities
US stocks bounced last night, including tech stocks, which marked the first positive close for the Nasdaq 100 since last Wednesday. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its third (fiscal) quarter results which showed that although product sales missed estimates, both revenue and earnings per share beat expectations. Perhaps more importantly, the company forecasts revenue to come in at between $60-62bn for the next quarter which would represent a 12.5-16% increase quarter over quarter. As a result, the share price jumped almost 4% in after hours trading which brings the stock to a new record high.
Commodity prices fell overnight, bucking an uptrend that had been in place since mid-July, according to the CRB commodity index. Precious metals prices have stabilised following the declines from early July. Gold prices are sitting just above US$1,220 and appear to be consolidating at around this level.
The Bank of Japan kept its policy rate at -0.1% as widely expected. The BOJ also maintained its yield target for the 10-year government bond at 0% although the statement explained that this target is now more ‘flexible’ and yields may be allowed to move somewhat from the target. This decision was perhaps more dovish than the market had expected which caused long term bond prices to rally. Early tomorrow morning, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision for the next six weeks. There is only a very small probability of a rate hike at this meeting with the next hike most likely occurring at the next meeting.
Data Releases:
- US FOMC Interest Rate Decision 4:00am AEST