live
Markets live: ASX to fall slightly, Australian dollar falls below 70 US cents after RBA rate hike
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dollar → fall → hike
The ASX is likely to start its day flat, or even slightly lower, after a weak session on Wall Street as government bond yields continued their march towards multi-decade highs.
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yields → start → highs
The Australian dollar fell below 70 US cents after the Reserve Bank lifted interest rates to a 15-year high on Tuesday.
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Bank → fall → Tuesday
See how the trading day unfolds on our blog.
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day → see → blog
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Live updates
Market snapshot
- ASX futures: -0.1% to 8,747 points
- ASX 200 (Tuesday close): +0.3% to 8,709 points
- Australian dollar: -0.5% to 69.8 US cents
- Wall Street: Dow Jones (-0.3%), S&P 500 (-0.2%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.1%)
- Europe: Stoxx 600 (-0.1%), DAX (+0.1%), FTSE (-0.5%)
-
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blog → intend → cents
Bitcoin: -0.1% to $US83,510
- 10-year bonds: US 5.23%, Australia 5.36%
Prices current at around 7:30am AEST
New: Filters
Choose what information you see below by using filters
Weapons makers, SpaceX and semiconductors feature in Australia's Future Fund portfolio
How much has Australia's Future Fund profited from investing in weapons manufacturers in the last six months?
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Fund → choose → months
How many SpaceX shares has it bought?
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it → buy → shares
How many Tesla shares has it sold?
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it → sell → shares
Australia's sovereign wealth fund published its latest six-monthly investment report on Monday.
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fund → publish → Monday
It published it quietly, without a press release or public announcement.
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It → publish → release
The Future Fund is two decades old and it has grown its initial $60 billion investment, from 2006, into $290 billion (and it manages an additional $66 billion across six smaller funds).
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it → grow → funds
This latest report shows what stocks the fund bought and sold between December 31 and June 30, and what returns its stock holdings generated in the first half of this year.
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holdings → show → year
The Future Fund has profited immensely from its investments in the global semiconductor and chip industry.
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Fund → profit → industry
But an interesting thing here is that it hasn't gone on a spending spree.
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it → go → spree
Key Event
Benchmark oil price surged 13pc this month despite overnight drop
There was a steep fall in oil prices overnight as investors focused on signs of recovering crude exports from the Middle East.
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investors → surge → East
However, prices are still headed for large monthly gains on lingering concern about supply disruptions during the US-Israeli war on Iran.
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prices → head → Iran
The international benchmark Brent crude futures fell 2.6% to $US102.59 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude tumbled 3.5% to $US89.38.
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crude → fall → US89.38
But for the month, Brent jumped 13%, and WTI is up by a much smaller 4%.
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WTI → jump → %
Crude futures were "under pressure this morning on news that the Saudi’s East-West Pipeline flows have moved up," said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial.
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Kissler → move → Financial
"US/Iran negotiations are also continuing, and while seemingly far apart both are looking for an off-ramp, and as more oil flows through the Middle East the less bargaining power Iran will have.
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Iran → continue → power
Saudi Arabia resumed oil tanker loadings from its Red Sea port of Yanbu after restarting operations on the East-West Pipeline, according to trade sources and shipping data, improving the outlook for oil exports from the Middle East.
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Arabia → resume → East
Crude oil exports from Middle East producers have rebounded in September to 16.3 million barrels per day, the highest since the US-Israeli war on Iran started in late February, data from Kpler showed on Monday.
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data → rebound → Monday
US President Donald Trump said he has offered Iran nothing to end the war, rejecting media reports that cited US officials saying he was willing to ease sanctions and release frozen funds for "concrete" steps regarding Iran's nuclear program.
- with Reuters
Key Event
ASX to follow Wall Street lower, Aussie dollar falls below 70 US cents
Welcome to the ABC's finance blog!
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dollar → say → blog
I'll be guiding you through the latest market action for the next few hours.
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I → guide → hours
It appears the Australian share market is on track to open relatively flat, or even a little lower.
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market → appear → track
ASX futures, which are a rough indicator of how the market may open, are down almost 0.1%.
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market → open → ?
Weaker Aussie dollar
The Australian dollar fell below 70 US cents to its lowest level in two months, a slightly unexpected outcome considering the Reserve Bank lifted interest rates to a 15-year high yesterday.
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Bank → fall → high
That's something that would ordinarily boost the local currency given the RBA said in its post-meeting statement it would consider "increasing the cash rate target further if needed".
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it → boost → target
But this tough talk was "not hawkish enough to lift already aggressive market pricing for follow‑up hikes" according to Commonwealth Bank analysts, explaining the fall in the Aussie dollar.
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talk → lift → dollar
Wall Street and oil prices drop
Meanwhile, Wall Street finished trading slightly lower as government borrowing costs, as measured by bond yields, continued their march towards fresh multi-decade highs.
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costs → drop → highs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% to 51,350 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 7,671 points and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%, to 26,798 points.
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Composite → fall → points
US stocks pared declines, however, as bond yields eased from their earlier highs and shorter-duration yields were down on the day.
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yields → par → day
That was after oil prices retreated on signs of a recovery in exports from the Middle East and comments from Federal Reserve Bank of New York president John Williams.
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prices → retreat → Williams
Mr Williams said the US central bank has time to weigh the data before deciding when to hike interest rates again.
Expectations for a rate hike of at least 0.25 percentage points from the Fed at its October meeting declined to 51.5%, according to CME FedWatch in the wake of his comments, from nearly 70% earlier in the session.
- with Reuters
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Expectations → say → Reuters
The Aporia
