ASX 200 afternoon report: June 9, 2023
Your ASX 200 afternoon report.
The ASX 200 trades 27 points (0.38%) higher at 7126, at 3.20 pm, on track to snap a three-day losing streak ahead of the June long weekend.
On Wall Street, regular service resumed overnight as the Nasdaq (+1.27%) outperformed the S&P 500 (0.62%) and the Dow Jones (0.5%), supported by a dip in US Treasury yields.
Specifically, a sharp rise in US jobless weekly claims (261k vs 233k prior), a sign that the labour market is cooling, saw the rates market reduce the probability of a rate hike at next week’s FOMC meeting to 25%. However, we think this underestimates the chances of a rate hike.
However, since the May meeting, five key hawkish developments have occurred.
- The debt ceiling was raised before the X-date avoiding costly disruptions.
- The impact of the banking crisis has been less meaningful than feared
- Core PCE increased by 4.4% YoY from 4.2% previously
- Non-farm payrolls increased by a robust 339k in May
- Two early pausers, the RBA and the BoC, hiked rates this week
In our opinion, the net impact of the five developments above narrowly tips the scales in favour of a 25bp rate hike to 5.25% -5.5% before an extended pause.
Returning to matters closer to home, taking its lead from the Nasdaq, the ASX 200 technology sector outperformed today, rising 1.27%. Sezzle added 2.77% to $24.15, Xero added 1.7% to $108.38, Wisetech added 1.6% to $75.16, and Altium added 0.71% to $37.05.
Chatter around imminent China stimulus and a possible cut to the Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) has helped the price of iron ore rally over 5% this week to above $110.00. BHP added 1.18% today to $44.66, and Fortescue added 1.07% to$20.73. Mineral Resources added 0.72% to $69.66, and Rio Tinto added 0.67% to $114.77.
Despite this week’s hawkish RBA communique, bargain hunters have dipped their toes in the water to support some of the beaten-up retailing names. Adair’s gained 4.44% to $1.41, Myer Holdings added 2.44% to $0.63c, and Super Retail Group added 0.45% to $11.10. In contrast, Harvey Norman was trading lower at $3.22, down 4.17% this week and at its lowest level since May 2020.
The Financial sector has gained, led by ANZ, which added 0.93% to $22.89 after it announced today it would pass on the RBA’s 25bp rate hike to variable interest rate mortgage holders effective June 16. Westpac added 0.45% to $20.29, NAB added 0.44% to $25.27, and CBA gained 0.19% to $96.05.
ASX 200 technical analysis
The ASX 200 appears set to close uptrend support (7110ish) from the October 6411 low, above the 200-day ma (7115), and well above last week’s 7077 low. A sustained break below 7075 would be problematic and lead to a test of year-to-date lows at 6900.
The AUD/USD is trading at .6695 (-0.31%), slipping from a four-week high of .6718.
ASX 200 daily chart
- TradingView: the figures stated are as of June 9, 2023. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This report does not contain and is not to be taken as containing any financial product advice or financial product recommendation.
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