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Australian shares are coasting into the end of the shortened Easter trade week all but flat, with ASX 200 futures pointing to a minor +0.07% lift for stocks this morning.
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Some of this early Thursday hesitancy can be attributed to everyone already having one eye on the long weekend – but similarly, U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s latest warnings on trade tensions haven’t helped.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.3% after Powell said the central bank won’t rush into more cuts.
By the end of Wall Street’s Wednesday in Week 16, nearly 90% of stocks were red.
This bearish feeling has seen some traders turn to gold, with the bullion price then surging past the US$3,300 mark – a 2.7% jump for the safe haven metal.
So too U.S. Treasuries: The five-year note settled at 3.9% by close of business.
Back home, and everyone’s preparing for the Easter long weekend. Remember, no trade tomorrow (April 18) and Monday (April 21), for the public holiday break.
In company news: Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD) and Bellevue Gold (ASX:BGL) hiked as much as 8% yesterday, and HotCopper forum users are closely watching them today – the aforementioned hesitancy could be a boost.
Lunnon Metals (ASX:LM8) is also trending after RC drilling found multiple shallow, thick, high-grade gold mineralisation at its Lady Herial prospect in the Defiance Dolerite.
Major miners like BHP (ASX:BHP), Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), Challenger (ASX:CGF), and South32 (ASX:S32) are dishing up quarterly results through today.
So too Transurban Group (ASX:TCL), AMP Limited (ASX:AMP), and several more.
By 12:30pm, we’ll also have labour force data to pore over, including March unemployment.
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Looking at forex, the strengthening Aussie dollar is buying 63.7 US cents.
To commodities, which are in the greenback,
Iron Ore has retreated 0.7% to $98.05 a tonne in Singapore,
Brent Crude is trading at $66.08,
Gold is trading at $3,356 per ounce, and,
US natgas futures are at $3.25 per gigajoule.
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