Originally published by Rivkin Securities
Following the close on Thursday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) reported an almost 10% cut in revenue due to weakness in China which took most analysts by surprise. As a result, the broader market took this as an ominous sign for economic growth in China and sold off heavily when trading resumed on Friday. The Dow Jones fell 2.8% while the S&P 500 declined 2.5% with 29 of the 30 Dow stocks posting losses.
The Apple downgrade also appeared to trigger some wild moves in foreign exchange markets (although there are other possible explanations). The Australian dollar plunged (briefly) to US$0.675 from US$0.696 in the space of about three minutes although it has subsequently recovered all of those losses and is currently trading at US$0.700. It was a similar story for several other US FX pairs with the USDJPY one of the largest movers with the yen spiking around 4% against the dollar.
Gold prices continue to be strong amid the stock market turmoil. Prices in US dollar have risen to $1,294 per ounce, a six-month high while the AUD price of gold has reached a new all time high. Following the plunge in the Australian dollar yesterday, the gold price briefly reached AU$1,900 per ounce but has subsequently settled down around AU$1,850 per ounce.
ASX 200 futures are down 36 points this morning.
Data Releases:
- US Employment Data 11:30pm AEDT