ASX Market Open: Futures down almost 0.25% on negative data from China

Welcome to the start of the trading week. The ASX200 is tipped for a red day with futures down almost a quarter of a percent, or -0.24% near 8.53am AEDT.

Stocks in the US were down on the last trading session of June, with the S&P falling -0.4%, the Nasdaq 100 dropping -0.7% and the Dow Jones down .1 percent.

This was influenced by data which indicated no change in the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure in May, indicating a rate cut could be on its way later in the year.

Data coming out of China also put pressure on the market, as NBS Manufacturing PMI for June came in at 49.5 – the same figure for the second straight month, but representing a fourth instance of contraction in factory activity this year. This reflected Beijing’s struggle to push an economic revival despite low demand, deflation issues and a longstanding weakness in the property market.

Also in China, the official NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI in China was also weaker, dropping to 50.5 in June 2024 from 51.1 in the previous month, despite a market forecast of 51.0.

In ASX news, Wellard Ltd (ASX:WLD) is selling its livestock carrier ship the Ocean ute in a $12 million deal.

Meanwhile, specialist technology company Swift Networks Group Ltd (ASX:SW1) has entered into a $1.2 million deal with Anglogold Ashanti Australia Ltd to deliver both technical support and entertainment services.

And iTech Minerals Ltd (ASX:ITM) has reported a 300 percent expansion in the measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Eyre Peninsula Graphite Project in South Australia.

Turning to Forex, the Australian dollar was buying 66.7 US cents.

Brent crude has dropped a little to around US$84.90 a barrel, iron ore has been trading around $106.50 a tonne, gold’s at US$2,325 an ounce and natural gas has been at just below $2.60 a gigajoule.