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It should be a solid start to the week for the ASX200 with futures hinting at a point-four of a per cent lift and it’s largely due to rising ‘unemployment’ in the US last month, making it ‘less’ likely for the Federal Reserve to move interest rates there.
At the end of last week, the Dow Jones lifted .3 of a per cent, the S&P 500 gained nearly .2 of a per cent and the NASDAQ slipped ever so slightly, dropping just 3 points – although overall all the US markets made a gain for the week.
The biggest driver back home this week will be the RBA’s interest rates decision tomorrow.
It’s the last rates announcement with Philip Lowe at the helm, and it’s widely tipped that there’ll be no budging from 4.1 per cent, providing a stable transition for Mr Lowe’s successor, Michele Bullock. That is backed by last week’s inflation figures coming in below 5 per cent.
Also this week, Gross Domestic Product figures come out on Wednesday for the June quarter and there’ll be a jobs report later in the week.
Meanwhile, Fortescue Metal’s new mining CEO, Dino Otranto, will meet with domestic investors this week in Sydney and Melbourne to address concerns around recent leadership instability, including his predecessor Fiona Hick’s short tenure. The AFR reports that Mr Otranto is also set to talk to the broker’s concerns about the board’s risk strategy.
The Aussie Dollar is buying 65 US cents.
In commodities, iron ore was at $118 a tonne, and Crude oil at $85.55 a barrel which is a high point this year, as OPEC and allied producers have squeezed supplies. Gold has been trading at $1967 an ounce and natural gas at $2.76.
