Originally published by Rivkin Securities
Financials led the US stock market lower overnight while real estate and utilities substantially outperformed. The S&P 500 closed down 0.4% while the Dow Jones was down 0.5%. The ASX 200 climbed 0.3% yesterday with technology company Afterpay Touch (AX:APT) rising 21% on a strong earnings announcement. ASX 200 futures are down 11 points this morning.
Yesterday Australia’s employment data was a wide beat compared to expectations with 50,900 new jobs created in the month of June. This consisted of 41,200 new full-time jobs and 9,700 new part-time jobs. The unemployment rate remained steady although the participation rate increased by 0.2% so this wasn’t a bad result. Immediately after the release of the data, the Australian dollar spiked higher, climbing to US$0.743 although it subsequently faded and declined for much of the night. The growth in employment is the strongest so far this year and it will be interesting how the Reserve Bank factors this information into its decision making at its next meeting.
Gold prices continue to be weak although they bounced off their lows overnight. The precious metals market appears to be suffering from a strong US dollar as the US dollar index reached a new one year high of 95.16 overnight.
Data Releases:
- Canada CPI 10:30pm AEST