News

Australia’s growth forecasts have been revised higher as optimism over economic rebound heightens  with Westpac Chief economist expecting GDP growth of 4.5% this year, instead of 4%. 

The  heavyweight technology sector jumped strongly (Nasdaq +3.7%) post a tough few weeks. 

US 10-year Treasury bonds have been a key driver of news lately, and the sell-off eased on the inflation news pushing yields down to a session low of 1.50%, compared to 1.61% earlier this week.

ECB Head, Lagarde warned that higher bond yields could lead to a “premature tightening of financing conditions”, which she labelled “undesirable”.

US markets were choppy in the morning ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, before sinking in the early afternoon when he showed no sign of wanting to intervene to arrest the pace of rising bond yields. 

Closer to home, the RBA’s policy update yesterday turned out to be fairly routine, with rates guidance unchanged and the Bank reiterating that conditions for a hike were not likely until 2024 at the earliest.

As we have discussed previously, financial stocks  all else equal benefit from higher interest rates as it improves bank interest margins. 

Global markets were higher on Monday (S&P 500 index +2.4%) as bond markets calmed after a month-long selloff.

Global markets were mixed on Friday (S&P 500 index -0.2%) helped by a rise in economy-sensitive cyclical sectors, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on track to end the week on a dull note as investors rotated out of technology-related companies.