Stock Index

Over the past week and a half, the intraday volatility in the ASX200 has reminded of a caged animal. Its behaviour becoming increasingly frenetic in its attempts to break the confines of a well-established range.

Wrapping up a massive week for antipodean markets, the RBA’s Quarterly Statement of Monetary Policy (SoMP) that contains the RBA’s key forecasts is released tomorrow.

The central bank of Singapore, The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) unexpectedly tightened its monetary policy settings today, to “ensure price stability over the medium term” amid higher inflation.

A strong rally on Friday helped the ASX200 close last week 1.9% higher at 7320, bringing a run of four straight losing weeks to an end.

Contrary to moves in other key global indices, September proved to be a good month for the China A50 as it finished up 4.50%. This may come as a surprise given the turmoil caused by China property developer, Evergrande.

Global capital is flooding into US markets as many traders return from a long holiday weekend.

Roughly four months after the Christmas swoon in US stocks, sector rotation suggests the bull market is alive and well.

US stock markets stumbled out of the gate to start this week’s trade after a lack of progress on the US-China trade negotiation front this weekend and fresh concerns around Boeing’s prospects. Among the major US indices, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is performing best...

Having conquered the November high with yesterday’s breakout, the Dow looks up to its record highs with little in the way of technical resistance.

With US treasury yields starting to turn lower, just as the S&P500 hesitate at critical highs, we take a look at the bigger picture to see if sentiment could be about to turn for the worst.

After two weeks of constructive trade talks on both sides of the Pacific, we suggested that traders were “expecting the increase in tariffs will be delayed…with some sort of agreement following in either late March or early April.” On Sunday night, President Trump confirmed that he would be delaying the tariff escalation and planning another summit between President Xi and himself (date TBD).

When yesterday’s dueling Democratic and Republican proposals to open the government both failed to garner nearly enough votes in the Senate, it assured that 800,000 government employees would go a whole month without receiving a paycheck. However, it’s often said that “the night is darkest just before the dawn,” and there are some signs that yesterday’s failed votes may serve as the catalyst for a true compromise to end the stalemate.

US stock markets were closed yesterday in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, and given the headwinds the world economy faces, perhaps policymakers could benefit from his overriding message of inclusion and cooperation.

One of the first things that new traders to the FX markets learn is that many currencies are correlated with other markets. For instance, the close relationship between oil and the Canadian dollar or certain metals and the Australian dollar are intuitive given the importance of exporting those commodities for the Canadian and Australian economies.

The minutes from each Federal Reserve meeting are released three weeks after the meeting itself, meaning that they’re generally stale under the best of circumstances...