One day makes the week for Aussie market

Despite four straight losing days, the Australian share market’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished in the black for the week of 8—12 May, with a 0.8 per cent gain on Monday doing all of the heavy lifting for an eventual 0.5 per cent weekly rise. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday closed 4.8 points lower […]

Despite four straight losing days, the Australian share market’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished in the black for the week of 8—12 May, with a 0.8 per cent gain on Monday doing all of the heavy lifting for an eventual 0.5 per cent weekly rise.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday closed 4.8 points lower at 7,256, while the broader All Ordinaries was down 3.5 points, or 0.05 per cent at 7,453. The local market is heading for a flat opening, ahead of crucial data later in the week: the Reserve Bank’s May minutes are due on Tuesday, wage price figures on Wednesday and jobless numbers will be released on Thursday. The April employment figures are broadly expected to show a slower pace of jobs growth, which is projected keep the unemployment rate unchanged at 3.5 per cent.

On Wall Street, it was a case of back-to-back weekly losses for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500. The Dow Jones gave up 0.3 per cent over the week, and the broader S&P 500 eased 1.1 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, advanced 0.4 per cent. Poor sentiment around the US economy continued to dampen investors’ ardour: on Friday a preliminary reading from the widely watched University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment falling to a six-month low.

The market was also grappling with the US debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, as the country draws nearer to the so-called “X date,” or when the government may go into default without a raise in the debt limit to pay its bills. A meeting between President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to thrash-out an agreement has been rescheduled to this week.

However, on balance, the stock market appears quite blasé about the outlook, with the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) trading below 18 on Friday, and having fallen almost 22 per cent in 2023.

In the bond market, US 10-year bond yields ended at 3.47 per cent and the 2-year note yield at 3.92 per cent.

Oil prices weakened, with the global benchmark Brent crude grade down more than 1 per cent, to $US74.17 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate easing 1.1 per cent to $US70.09 per barrel.

Gold traded 0.2 per cent lower, to $US2,015.90 an ounce, while iron ore was near $US105.16 per tonne.

The Australian dollar starts the week at 66.44 US cents, down half a cent on Friday’s local close.