Hi good morning and a warm welcome. Sage for Kalkine TV, reporting to you live
from Sydney, and you’re watching Global Markets Roundup. Let’s dive into some
key highlights and happenings from yesterday. Starting with the US market.
U.S. Treasury yields edged lower on Thursday as the market struggled with reduced liquidity,
while Turkey's lira weakened further after its central bank cut rates. MSCI's gauge of
stocks across the globe was flat, and stocks on Wall Street were mixed. On Wall Street,
the Dow Jones was down 0.17%, but the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and the NASDAQ was up 0.4%.
Looking at the newsmakers. Apple is pushing to accelerate development of its electric
car and is refocusing the project around full self-driving capabilities, according to people
familiar with the matter, aiming to solve a technical challenge that has bedevilled
the auto industry. For the past several years, Apple’s car team had explored two simultaneous
paths: creating a model with limited self-driving capabilities focused on steering and acceleration
-- similar to many current cars -- or a version with full self-driving ability that doesn’t
require human intervention. Chipmakers rallied after Nvidia issued a strong quarterly forecast
and earnings update. Nvidia shares gained 8.25 per cent. The Philadelphia Semiconductor
Index put on 1.79 per cent. Retailers were also strong as Macy’s and Kohl’s continued
a week of well-received earnings updates. Both chains beat profit and revenue expectations.
Other retailers, including Gap, Bath & Body Works, JD.com and Victoria’s Secret, also
rallied on earnings news. Cisco slumped 5.51 per cent to steer the Dow lower after
supply-chain issues weighed on its quarterly revenue forecast. Cyclical stocks were held
back by signs of a seasonal increase in Covid-19 cases. Daily tallies have risen in more than half
the states in the US. The national daily average has increased by 14 per cent in the last week
to 83,000 cases a day.
An important news coming in. According to the US Department of Labour, the number of
people seeking the unemployment benefits further dropped to 268,000, witnessing a decline of
1,000, in the week ended 13 November.
Moving on to the Europe.
European shares ended lower on Thursday, weighed by weakness in commodity-related stocks amid
declining oil and metal prices, and breaking a record-breaking six-day rally fuelled by
strong earnings. The pan-European STOXX 600 index dropped 0.5%, its first fall in seven
sessions, with energy stock and miners dropping about 2% each. London equities extended
losses on Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 remaining below 7,300 as investors awaiting
key macroeconomic data scheduled to be released on Friday. The GfK Group is slated to unveil
the GfK Consumer Confidence index, while the Office for National Statistics is readying
to release the United Kingdom retail sales date for the month of October, the first month
after the withdrawal of furlough scheme and the termination of stamp duty holiday benefits.
Earlier in September this year, the retail sales dropped by 0.2% as the proportion of
online sales continue to supersede the in-store sales even after full scale resumption of
almost every commercial setting following the removal of pandemic restrictions and social
distancing guidelines. Alongside the retail sales data, the ONS will be releasing the
public sector net borrowing for October of 2021. The public sector debt in the UK has
been hovering near record high levels with the total debt hitting £21.8 billion in September
2021. According to the data released by the ONS, the net debt excluding public sector
banks stood at £2,218.9 billion at the end of September. This equates to 95.5% of the
UK GDP, the highest ratio in nearly six decades. Such levels were last seen in 1963. FTSE 100
lost 35.24 points, or 0.48%, whereas the mid-cap average FTSE 250 advanced 140.55 points, or
0.60%, effectively narrowing the gap from 52-week high.
And now, its time for a small break but stay tuned as I’ll be back with Europe and
Australian market updates.
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Welcome back. I’m Sage and you are watching the Global Markets Roundup show.
Lets look at the Asian markets.
Japanese shares eased on Thursday, with cyclicals and oil companies leading the decline, but
they pared losses after a media report that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's stimulus package
will be larger than initially expected. The Nikkei share average ended 0.30% lower, but
it cut a big part of its losses after the Nikkei business daily reported Japan's economic
stimulus package will likely involve fiscal spending of around 55.7 trillion yen due to
huge amounts of cash payouts.
China stocks closed lower on Thursday, led by metaverse-related shares as the state media
flagged risks, while real estate developers fell amid liquidity woes. The blue-chip CSI300
index fell 1.0%, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5%. South Korean shares ended
at one-week low on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's overnight drop on rate-hike fears,
while a record daily jump in domestic coronavirus cases also weighed on sentiment. The KOSPI
closed down 15.04 points, or 0.51%, at 2,947.38, extending its losing streak to a third day.
It slid 1.16% on Wednesday.
Let’s move to the Australian Market.
The ASX 200 benchmark had inched 0.1% higher on Thursday. A number of ASX 200 shares including
Nanosonics, NEXTDC, and WiseTech Global are scheduled to hold their annual general meetings
on Friday. Yields on benchmark US 10-year Treasury notes were last at 1.58%. They
have jumped from a low of 1.415% last week. Bond moves are expected to remain choppy.
On the other hand, the dollar index fell 0.1%, with the euro was up 0.33%. Turkey's lira
shed another 3.3% to above 11 per dollar after the central bank cut rates by 100 basis points
to 15%. Oil prices edged higher despite reports that China is preparing for a crude reserve
release. Brent crude was up 53 cents, or 0.7%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were
up 18 cents. Gold prices fell after US jobs data strengthened rate hike bets. Spot gold
fell 0.3%. Meanwhile, the most-traded iron ore for January delivery on the Dalian Commodity
Exchange ended trading 5.1% lower.
Well, that’s all for now. Keep watching Kalkine TV for more market updates.