Britain has a new Prime Minister… with a lot of work to do…

Good Morning,

So…

Britain is about to have a new Prime Minister…

Theresa May will join “the hot seat” on Wednesday, with a lot to prove and a few “things” on her to do list…

This will only be seen as good news for markets, as just like Australia forming government in the past 24 hours, markets can now focus on underlying macro-related issues

So what happened last night?

Alleviated concerns about the US economy have somehow balanced with the widespread expectation the US Fed will keep interest rates at record low levels for some time yet. 

The S&P 500 Index reached an all-time high over night, breaking through a crucial resistance point. 

Alcoa Inc., the 128-year-old aluminum producer that’s splitting into two companies, reported earnings that exceeded analysts’ estimates after profit from its car and jet parts businesses offset declines in prices for the metal.

Net income fell to 9 cents a share from 10 cents a year earlier, New York-based Alcoa said Monday in a statement. Profit excluding one-time items was 15 cents a share, beating the 9-cent average of 12 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The shares rose as much as 5.3 percent in after-hours U.S. trading.

This bodes well for other resource stocks, especially AWC, which should rally this morning…..

What's on today?

Australia: June NAB Business Survey; the RBA's Head of Financial Stability is speaking at a Banking and Financial Stability Conference on Tuesday

Abroad: Eurozone Finance Ministers meet Monday-Tuesday; BoE Governor Carney speaks on Financial Stability in Parliament 

SPI futures is 34 points higher this morning

Niv Dagan is an Executive Director of Melbourne based boutique funds management and corporate advisory firm, Peak Asset Management (www.peakassetmanagement.com.au). He is also a regular financial commentator on Sky Business.