Trading in Asia was mixed as US shares stabilized overnight. In the meanwhile, the ongoing discussions between China and the US adds uncertainty. The bottom performer among major Asian indices was the Nikkei, which fell 0.45%.
Oil climbed higher amidst resuming hopes following the 1.2 million barrels per day production cut agreed by OPEC+. However, concerns that the US could much further increase its shale production and the slowing global economy could make the output cut less effective.
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Day 1 of 5: Monday looks like it may be one of those days where Wall Street hesitantly pulls itself up out of the dirt in the final hours of trade. There is just under two-hours to go in the US session, and at a high level, things appear not-too-bad. Let's return to America a little later. Whichever way we happen to end the first 24 hours of trade for the week, heightened risk, growth fears and bearishness is still driving sentiment. There has been no sh
The Dow will open lower today than its open price for the year following weak jobs data and the resulting sell-off of FAANG companies.
US Non-farm payrolls grew by 155,000 on Friday, missing estimates of 198,000 whilst unemployment is near record lows at 3.7%
Chinese markets had a poor start to the week following missed trade estimates for November. The Hang Seng has fallen 1.41%, the Shanghai composite by 0.84% and the Shenzhen composite by 1.15%
The European Court of Justi
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Friday session: Friday capped off another horror week for Wall Street. It was US equities’ worst week since March. Traders are currently operating within a volatility trap – and there are few indications this will soon end. The VIX is elevated, above 23 at the last reading, but occupied time above the 25-mark at stages during the week. Volatility is an active trader’s friend, and for the most part the opportunities it has thrown have been relished. Liqui
Expected index adjustments
Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 10 Dec 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video.
NB: All dividend adjustments are forecasts and therefore speculative. A dividend adjustment is a cash neutral ad
Make or Break for Brexit?
There have already been so many twists and turns in the UK’s efforts to negotiate its separation from the European Union that that investors are getting dizzy. It is troublingly difficult to gain a reliable bead on a probable outcome for this stalemate, but the lack of time and dwindling hope of an outcome that will satisfy the majority of those involved raises the threat of a ‘bad’ outcome and even worse market response. This is not one of those events where igno
Bitcoin hit year low falling below $3,500 after a 11% dive.
Chip stocks in Europe and Asia tumbled after the arrest of Huawei CFO . AMS dived 7%, STMicroelectronics fell 4% and Dialog Semiconductor slid 3%.
Dow rebounds after falling 780 points ending the day only slightly lower yesterday.
10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.83% amid stock sell-off compared to the beginning of the week where it was above 3%.
Non-Farm payrolls today expected to have expanded by 198,00 i
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Panic stations, still: The behaviour in financial markets is resembling cats trapped in a burning room: the air is unclear, it’s unbearably hot, and people are scrambling to find an exit – or at least, somewhere appropriate to hide. The chaos is one thing, but the true issue – as is always the case, when these situations become particularly fraught – is no one can really describe why this is going on exactly. Now, we all know the stories: the Fed has equ
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada where she faces extradition to the US for violating US sanctions, leading to growing tensions between the China and US that create further doubt about the cease-fire on the tariff war declared over the weekend. Shares in Asian suppliers to Huawei sank on Thursday after the arrest was made pubic.
Asian markets fell on Thursday ahead of the highly awaited OPEC meeting to be held in Austria today. The Hang Seng was down 2.62%, the Nikkei fell 1.
UK government found in contempt of parliament for the first time due to not releasing the full legal advice regarding Brexit. The government has now agreed that it will be published which may cause more instability in the markets
Markets have retreated following their rally attributed to agreements made between the US and China at the G20. The fall comes amidst increasing sentiment of an economic slowdown as well as reduced faith in trade war negotiations following officials of the Trump
Please see the following analysis from Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG, a global leader in online trading.
OPEC preview
OPEC faces a difficult task this week, as it aims to prop up the oil price without antagonising the US or putting too much strain on state finances by cutting production too much.
The current state of demand and supply
After being in deficit for 2018 and 2019, the oil market is expected to shift back to surplus next year:
Crude output c
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
Inverted Yield Curves: There’ll probably be a lot of talk about “inverted yield curves” and “recessions” today. For some, reading such headlines will come as a shock. Perhaps even a cause of anxiety. It’s wise to understand why such commentary has emerged – and what that may imply. The price action in US Treasuries has been quite dramatic in the past 24-hours: the (what ought to be) familiar themes regarding a looming global economic slow-down, and the p
Theresa May will begin the five days of her House of Commons debate today, culminating in a historic vote on her Brexit compromise deal on December 11.
The Dow Jones closed 1.13% higher at 25,826.43 yesterday, whilst both the S&P and Nasdaq posted gains of 1.09% and 1.51 percent, respectively.
Asian shares fell on Tuesday as the optimism gathered from the US-China trade truce ends over doubts of a final resolution: the Hang Seng lost 0.3% as the ASX gave up 0.8% and Japan's Nik
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
A bullish Monday: That big uplift we were all expecting after the weekend’s events at the G20 has transpired. The trade-war truce, as fleeting as it may prove to be, has supported a substantial enough boost in sentiment. Risk appetite has been teased, and risk assets across the global, beginning in the Asian session yesterday, and carrying through European and North American trade, have dutifully rallied, consequently. It’s a synchronized boost, prevaili
The US and China have agreed a temporary ceasefire on additional tariffs on each others goods at the G-20 summit in Argentina to allow for trade talks to continue in the new year.
Dow futures soared more than 450 points as investors have reacted positively to the US-China news. Nasdaq futures also rose around 2.7%, followed by S&P 500 futures which jumped 1.7%.
The dollar depreciated on Monday as investors looked to take up positions in riskier assets, such as the Australian do
Expected index adjustments
Please see the expected dividend adjustment figures for a number of our major indices for the week commencing 3 Dec 2018. If you have any queries or questions on this please let us know in the comments section below. For further information regarding dividend adjustments, and how they affect your positions, please take a look at the video.
NB: All dividend adjustments are forecasts and therefore speculative. A dividend adjustment is a cash neutral adj
Trump’s G20 Summit: Love him or loathe him, Donald Trump seems to be able to get things done. Given he is the most powerful man in the word – at the very least, in a political sense – perhaps this isn’t such a difficult task. When you have the world’s largest economy, coupled with the world’s most potent military at your disposal, one would have all the leverage needed to get their way. But nevertheless, arguably not since Ronald Reagan has global politics experienced such a rapid ideological sh
Weeks Left of Liquidity, A Laundry List of Unresolved Fundamental Threats
We have officially closed out November Friday and we are now heading into the final month of the trading year. Historically, December is one of the most reserved months of the calendar year with strong positive returns for benchmark risk assets like the S&P 500 along with a sharp drop in volume and significant drop in traditional volatility measures (like the VIX index). There is a natural, structural reason for t
The G20 summit in Argentina begins today, where discussions around trade, Brexit, and tensions between Russia and Ukraine are expected to be the dominant topics to take centre-stage.
FOMC minutes released yesterday pointed towards another rate hike in December, with concerns that trade tensions and corporate debt could impact growth.
China’s official PMI fell to 50.0 in November from 50.2 last month, adding pressure on the country to implement more economic support measures amid t
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
A relief rally, now onto the next risk: The relief rally for market-bulls was sweet, but fleeting: it’s on to the next risk event now. Traders are being inundated by information, much of it speculative. Against this backdrop, volatility reigns: while off its highs still, the VIX is up 2.7 per cent on the day. To be clear, the Fed’s dovishness and Mr. Powell’s-famous-Put is underwriting the potential for future bullishness. But market participants can’t a
Fed hints that future interest rate rises may be lower than anticipated. Whilst Wall Street saw it's 5th biggest daily increase Asian stocks also gained as a result, the Nikkei saw a 0.9% increase whilst SoftBank rose over 3% and Nintendo a further 4%.
Trump announced yesterday that he is exploring new auto tariffs with a view to promote domestic production. This comes as part of an ongoing Trump Administration tariff war.
Georgia elects first female president. Salome Zurabishvili
A game of chicken: Did Powell just blink? That’s how last night’s speech from the Fed chair is being interpreted. Debate has raged whether in the face of financial market turmoil, the Fed will be forced to cool its rate-hike rhetoric. Powell’s speech – and this is speculative – may have represented this. Gone was the talk of rates being “a long way” from neutral, and that rates may need to move “past (the) neutral” rate. Instead, it was replaced with the key comment interest rates are “just belo
Asian equities gained as investors weighed in comments from Federal Reserve officials and a possible breakthrough in US-China trade war. Shares in Hong Kong and China led the gains with the Hang Seng Index climbing 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite gaining 0.7%.
Oil crude was up with WTI gaining 0.9% to $52.02 a barrel after a US industry report signaled shrinking gasoline surplus. Concerns of sanctions to Russia following its sea clash with Ukraine and Saudi’s vow to cut production in Dec
Written by Kyle Rodda - IG Australia
A loaded menu: If this week in financial markets is a buffet of information, then yesterday’s session tasted like the entrée. The themes that were predicted to define this week’s trade all showed-up in one form or another, hinting at bigger things to come. US President Trump added heat to the trade war, then spiced up the Brexit debate; a speech from US Federal Reserve Vice President Richard Clarida had traders questioning how many Fed hike’s markets hav
Trump reported that Brexit could potentially threaten a UK-US trade deal, leaving Britain unable to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the US
OPEC to meet in Vienna next week to discuss levels of oil production. It is expected to be cut down by 1million to 1.5million barrels due to worries of the US-China trade war
Trump announced a potential introduction of applying a 10% tariff on iPhones imported from China, which could increase to 25% on January 1st
Ukraine to bring m
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