US equities were mixed on Wednesday, with little economic data to guide investors with the current rally looking stretched.
United States
The S&P500 edged -0.17% lower along with the Nasdaq Composite -0.54% while the Russell 2000 rose 0.14% along with the Dow Jones 0.10%. In bonds, the 2-year yield was 3.8 basis points higher along with the 10 and 30-year rates by 4.1 and 3.5 basis points respectively.
There was no major economic data overnight, with investors turning their attention to tonight’s producer price inflation and retail sales for February. Over the month, producer prices are expected to have risen 0.3% while retail sales are forecast to rise 0.8% after a -0.8% drop in January.
Europe
The Euro Stoxx 600 edged up 0.16% along with the CAC 0.62% and FTSE100 0.31% while the DAX was little changed. Overnight, the latest GDP for the UK showed the economy contracted -0.3% over the year in line with expectations. Elsewhere, Eurozone industrial production was weaker than expected down -6.7% over the 12 months compared to expectations of a -2.9% decline. The Euro was 0.18% higher at 1.0947 with the Pound little changed at 1.2795.
Australia
The ASX is expected to open higher this morning despite the softer lead from Wall Street, with ASX200 futures up 10 points or 0.14% to 7,748. The index rose 0.22% on Wednesday driven by gains in financials 0.85% and consumer discretionary 1.3% which offset a -0.75% fall in materials. Lithium miner Liontown Resources was one of the top performing stocks up 6.1% after announcing it had secured a $550m facility to fund the development of its Kathleen Valley project. Meanwhile, Core Lithium fell -9.1% after announcing the closure of its Finniss Project due to weaker lithium prices.
Commodities
Oil prices rose overnight with both WTI and Brent crude up 2.89% and 2.71% respectively. The moves follow an unexpected draw in US crude oil inventories of -1.536m barrels for the week ending March 8th, this compares to forecasts of a 1.338m increase. Also supporting higher oil prices was a decrease of -5.662m barrels off gasoline vs -1.9m forecast. Iron ore futures slipped -3.41% on Wednesday although are 0.57% higher this morning at 106.15 while copper advanced 3.29%. Gold is 0.69% higher at US$2,173 modestly below its record high, silver climbed 3.35% to US$24.95 along with Bitcoin 2.72%.
Economic Calendar
14th March 2024
US Producer Prices (MoM Feb) 23:30
US Retail Sales (MoM Feb) 23:30
US Business Inventories (MoM Jan) 01:00
This article was written by James Woods, Portfolio Manager, Rivkin Securities Pty Ltd. Enquiries can be made via [email protected] or by phoning +612 8302 3632.
