Australian stocks are set to rise after US markets recovered from a three-day losing streak, triggered by signs of an economic slowdown in China, Europe’s energy crisis and concerns that the US Federal Reserve .can continue to aggressively raise interest rates.
ASX futures were up 0.4 percent at 6,933 points as of 8:25 a.m. AEST.
In corporate news, Qantas has roughly halved its full-year statutory loss to $860 million.
This was fueled by airline revenue rising 54 percent from 2021, when state and international border closures most severely impacted air travel.
But the company’s preferred measure, its underlying pretax loss, rose slightly to $1.86 billion.
Whitehaven Coal said it made a record full-year profit as a global energy squeeze following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent coal prices soaring.
The coal miner reported a profit of $1.95 billion for the year ended June 30. It was a big improvement from the $543.9 million loss the year before.
The Australian dollar was stable at 69.1 cents on the dollar.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to close the session at 4,141 points, the Nasdaq gained 0.4% to 12,432, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 32,969.
In Europe, the pan-regional STOXX 600 index closed 0.2% higher.
Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,750.89 an ounce.
Market ‘waiting for its time’
Global markets have rallied sharply from their June lows on bets that US inflation has peaked, and the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates at a slower pace.
Some analysts argue that the stock market rally has been too exuberant.
They eagerly await a speech by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday (local time) at the central bankers’ summit in Jackson Hole in Wyoming.
Powell is expected to provide some clues about the pace of future interest rate hikes and whether the US central bank can deliver a “soft landing” for the economy.
His speech may also cement the market tone until the next Fed meeting in September.
“Caution and fear are the theme of the markets,” said Steven Englander, head of global G10 currency research and North America macro strategy at Standard Chartered in New York.
“If Powell says something aggressive and if he buys emerging market stocks or currencies, he’s going to lose 3 percent before he can even blink. So no one is buying risk right now in the run up to Jackson Hole.”
Traders are torn between expecting a 0.5 or 0.75 percentage point hike from the US central bank.
Oil prices rose in volatile trade on concern that the United States will not consider further concessions to Iran in its response to a draft deal that would restore Tehran’s nuclear deal and potentially crude exports by that member of the United States. the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). .
Brent crude futures rose 1.6 percent to $101.84 a barrel.
ABC/Reuters
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