The needle continues to wobble for international markets – US stocks fell on nervous movements in tech after weak demand in US treasury auctions while the Bank of Japan backed away from further rate rises in the immediate future, stabilising the yen and market sentiment.
ASX Futures are down 0.43% or 22 points as of 8:30am, having gained 0.38% or 29.2 points to 7,709.8 yesterday.
US and European markets
Leading stocks were down in the US. Super Micro Computer plunged 20.1% on below-estimate gross margins, Dell Technologies fell 7.2% and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) 2.5% following resumption of a share buyback program.
Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) dipped 4.5% and Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) shed 13.4% as reduced consumer spending affected forward outlooks for the short-term rental company.
The S&P500 fell 0.8%, the Nasdaq 1.1% or 171 points and the Dow Jones 0.6% or 234 points.
European markets fared better. Bank stocks lifted 2.7%, buoying ABN Amro 5.6% on improved full-year net interest incomes.
It wasn’t all rosy though as Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk (CSE:NOVOb) (NYSE:NVO) slumped 6.7%, its worst day since 2022, and Puma fell 10.8% on downward-adjusted full-year core profit expectations.
The FTSE300 had its best performance since November last year, lifting 1.5%, while the FTSE100 gained 1.8%.
Currencies and commodities
The Euro strengthened overnight but other currencies fell against the US dollar.
The Euro started the evening at US$1.0906 and closed it out at US$1.0920, while the Aussie fell from US$0.6574 to near US$0.6520 and the Japanese Yen eased from JPY146.18 per US dollar to near JPY146.80 at the US close.
Oil prices rose as US crude stocks fell, down 3.7 million barrels compared to expectations of 700,000.
Brent crude rose by US$1.85 or 2.4% to US$78.33 a barrel and US Nymex crude added US$2.03 or 2.8% to US$75.23 a barrel.
Base metals fell on weak demand from China and increasing inventories. Copper futures slid 1.8%, aluminium futures 0.2% and iron ore futures 1.1% or US$1.15 to US$101.71 a tonne.
Gold futures mostly remained steady as the US dollar and treasury bonds settled, gaining less than 0.1% or US$0.80 to US$2,432.40 an ounce.
On the small cap front
The ASX Small Ordinaries gained 0.54% yesterday, lifting in step with the ASX200’s 0.38% gain.
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