Good Morning,
An early start this morning as we head into the Sky News studios to talk global markets
For those wanting to tune in, we’re on at 8:15am.
So what happened last night?
Global stocks fell (Dow Jones -190 points), as Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and San Francisco’s John Williams said two rate increases this year may be warranted.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said a hike may come soon.
Overall, strong US data is supporting this case…
“It seems the Fed speak is spooking equities,” Yousef Abbasi, global market strategist at JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC in New York, said by phone.
“People were chasing the market after yesterday and when the Fed talk started to hit the tape they took their feet off the gas pedal and that’s created a bit of a vacuum. You had three Fed officials today say we could see rate hikes in the near future and that potential for higher rates also impacts the utilities and staples sectors.”
So strong data = more chances of a rate hike = downside on equities
Interestingly, crude oil keeps going up… now above $48/barrel…
In Oz, we had a fairly strong day yesterday as commodities rebounded and banks rallied.
However, we are likely to give yesterday’s gains away, following weak leads from the US….
The SPI down 33 points this morning.
