ASX Futures are pointing to a 25-point or 0.3% rise in early trading this morning, ahead of the RBA’s August interest rate rise decision, scheduled to be released at 2:30 PM AEST.
With inflation falling, energy costs rising and a mortgage cliff still threatening, most economists surveyed by Finder.com (31/43 or 72%) believe the RBA will hold the cash rate this month, although the consensus has certainly been wrong before.
In America, the Dallas Fed manufacturing activity index rose more than expected from June to July, rising from -23.2 to -20, well above the -22.5 predicted.
The markets finished July strongly, finishing higher on solid company earnings and raising hopes of a ‘soft landing’ for the US economy.
Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS)'s stocks grew 4.1%, Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) 3.3% and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) 3% as all three companies enjoyed stockbroker upgrades from investment banking companies. Disney's shares also lifted 3.2% following reports of former executives' return.
On the other hand, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) lost 4% after a second failure to resolve ongoing lawsuits over the safety of its talc products.
The Dow Jones index grew by 0.3%, the S&P 500 added 0.2% and the Nasdaq index increased 0.2%.
European markets
European markets also secured small gains on the last day of the month.
Healthcare stocks grew 1.3% as food and beverage shared shed 1.2%. Brewer Heineken lost a full 8% after cutting its 2023 profit growth forecast.
Inflation was also cooling, with data showing annual eurozone consumer prices growing by 5.3% in July compared to 5.5% in June even as the economic zone added 0.3% to its GDP in the June quarter.
The FTSEurofirst 300 and UK FTSE 100 added 1.7% and 2.2% respectively in July, having gained 0.1% each over the June quarter as a whole.
Currency and commodities
The US dollar had mixed progress overnight; the Euro fell from US$1.1044 to settle near US$1.0995, the Aussie gained from US$0.6680 cents to near US$0.6715 cents at the US close, and the Japanese Yen fell from 141.60 yen per US dollar to JPY142.25 at market close.
Global oil prices continued to rise – tightening supply and rising demand are expected to buoy crude for the rest of the year.
Brent rose by US$0.57 or 0.7% to US$85.56 a barrel while US Nymex gained US$1.22 or 1.5% to US$81.80 a barrel.
Copper, aluminium and gold all rose on Monday night, while iron futures fell.
Copper gained 2%, aluminium 2.4%, gold US$9.30 or 0.5% to sit at US$2,009.20 an ounce and iron ore shed US$0.23 or 0.2% to US$112.46 a tonne after weak manufacturing data from the top consumer China and concerns about demand capped gains.
Looking ahead, all eyes are on the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate decision, alongside upcoming data on home prices, lending, building approvals and manufacturing activity.
Data on the China Caixin manufacturing PMI and the US construction spending, job vacancies and factory activity are also due for release.
In the broader markets, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN), Marriott, Merck, Mosaic, Norwegian Cruise Line, Pinterest, Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), and Uber are all set to disclose their earnings.
On the small cap front
Growth was subdued in the small cap arena yesterday, with the Small Ordinaries adding 0.12% to 2,892.50 points yesterday.