Despite overseas markets closing in the red overnight, the ASX is poised to open higher this morning — the SPI Futures are up 11 points (0.14%) to 7,952.
Earnings season continues with results from Flight Centre (ASX:FLT) and Pilbara Minerals this morning. Flight Centre has trimmed its guidance on challenges, while Pilbara reported a record quarter that delivers on its FY24 guidance. DroneShield and West Africa Resources will also provide quarterly updates today.
ANZ has warned that unemployment could soon rise rapidly and the unemployment rate could exceed 5%.
ANZ senior economist Blair Chapman said he was not expecting mass sackings — rather, an influx of job seekers without enough available roles. This comes as recruiters report hundreds of applications for individual roles. Robert Half director, Nicole Gorton, said many students, migrants and returning expats were entering an already well-supplied labour market.
Overseas markets
US sharemarkets closed slightly lower on Tuesday:
- The Dow Jones index fell by 57 points or 0.1%,
- The S&P 500 index dipped 0.2%,
- The Nasdaq index shed 10 points or 0.1%.
In after hours trade, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) lost 8%, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) fell 2% after reporting earnings.
The duo kicked off results from the so-called 'Magnificent Seven' stocks after markets close.
Visa (NYSE:V) was also down 3% after hours after announcing results. Spotify jumped 12% after posting a record quarterly profit while Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) rose 0.3% after it increased its annual sales and profit forecasts.
Helping subdue equity markets were disappointing earnings from household names. United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS), seen as a bellwether for the global economy, slumped 12.1% for its worst day on record after missing earnings estimates on subdued package delivery demand and higher labour-contract costs.
General Motors (NYSE:GM) dropped 6.4% despite a second-quarter results beat and a higher annual profit forecast, while Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) lost 2.6% after missing revenue estimates.
European sharemarkets ended higher as a rally in technology-related shares following robust earnings from SAP helped offset declining resource-linked stocks that tracked lower commodity prices.
Shares of SAP jumped 7.2% to an all-time high after Europe's largest software maker reported better-than-expected quarterly operating income. Tech shares led gains, up 1.4%.
On the downside, Norsk Hydro's shares were down 4.7% after the aluminium producer posted an 18% fall in second-quarter core profit, dragging the mining index down 1.7%.
- The continent-wide FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.2%.
- But the UK FTSE 100 index slipped 0.4%, pressured by commodity-linked stocks as oil and copper prices fell.
Currencies
Currencies were mixed against the US dollar in European and US trade.
- The Euro fell from US$1.0889 to US$1.0842 and was near US$1.0850 at the US close.
- The Aussie dollar dipped from US66.32 cents to US66.10 cents and was near US66.15 cents at the US close.
- The Japanese yen firmed from 156.61 yen per US dollar to JPY155.58 and was near JPY155.60 at the US close.
Commodities
Global oil prices fell almost 2% to a six-week low on Tuesday on rising expectations of a ceasefire in Gaza and growing demand concerns in China.
- The Brent crude price fell by US$1.39 or 1.7% to US$81.01 a barrel.
- The US Nymex crude price shed US$1.44 or 1.8% to US$76.96 a barrel.
Base metal prices were mixed on Tuesday.
- Copper futures extended their fall to a seventh straight session, down 0.8%, to hit their lowest in three and a half months on growing concern over demand in China.
- Aluminium futures ended flat.
The gold futures price rose by US$12.60 or 0.5% to US$2,407.30 ounce on Tuesday, as investors awaited US economic data due later this week for more clarity on the timing of the US Fed's expected rate cut this year.
- Spot gold was trading near US$2,408 an ounce at the US close.
Iron ore futures dipped US37 cents or 0.3% to near three-month lows of US$107.79 a tonne on Tuesday, as a lack of stimulus from China's third plenum fanned demand worries.
What’s happening in small caps?
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries (XSO) ended 0.57% higher to 3,035.4 yesterday.