Originally published by Rivkin Securites
The Dow Jones Industrial Average underperformed the other major US indices overnight, partly as a result of IBM (NYSE:IBM) falling 7.5%, its worst one day fall since 2013. The decline came after IBM released its quarterly results which showed a deterioration in its margins even though both revenue and earnings were higher. Overall the Dow closed down 0.16% while the Nasdaq 100 climbed 0.25%. Netfli (NASDAQ:NFLX) managed to consolidate its almost 10% gains from Tuesday as subscriber growth far exceeded expectations. The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.35% yesterday and is slowly clawing back the losses that occurred in late March. Futures are up 25 points this morning.
Oil prices surged as the Department of Energy reported unexpected draws across all of the main energy groups. Crude, gasoline and distillates inventories all fell and with overall inventories back at ‘normal’ levels, the crude glut of the last few years is officially over. While US production continues to grow at a rapid pace, it is offset by declining OPEC production. WTI oil rose by over $2.00 per barrel overnight to reach a new three-year high of $68.68 per barrel. The rise caused the Energy Select Sector SPDR (NYSE:XLE) to rise 1.57%.
Today Australia releases its employment data, which is expected to show an employment change of 20,000 new jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.5%. Job growth has so far been relatively strong this year and another good number would solidify that trend. A rise in employment and a fall in the unemployment rate (currently at 5.6%) would apply additional pressure on the Reserve Bank to consider a rate hike sometime later this year.
Data Releases:
- Australia Employment Data 11:30am AEST
- UK Retail Sales 6:30pm AEST