Market Update – 17th October 2018 – Equities Soar Overnight Which Should Flow Through To Local Markets

I’ve been out of action the past two weeks following an urgent visit to Beijing as a result of my wife’s grandmother being ill. Fortunately, all is looking well and she’s in better shape now.

Markets and the AUD however took a turn for the worse while I was away with AUD/USD down around 150 points since my last report at the end of September, indeed also the fear and greed index (aka Gold) has surged in that time and is trading back above A$1,700 an ounce. Trade wars, Trump and China are still dominating headlines, but strong earnings in the U.S and global synchronised growth remains on track which suggests to me this latest meltdown/volatility is more a knee jerk reaction to trade war fears rather than anything else. But it’s certainly clear, volatility in markets is back and probably here to stay, so expect more swings and roundabouts not only for equities markets but also the AUD.

Overnight U.S and European stocks were up solidly so expect this optimism to flow through to local markets and the AUD. AUD/USD may well hit two week highs today as a result.

UK CPI is out tonight at 7.30pm, while the European Union Economic Summit kicks off tonight; expect growth and trade to be on the agenda.

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.7110

AUD/GBP – 0.5385

AUD/EUR – 0.6138

AUD/NZD – 1.0809

AUD/JPY – 79.851

USD/BTC – $6,418

OTHER MARKETS: 

All Ords (XAO) – 5,977

Gold – A$1,715/oz

Silver –  A$20.54/oz

WTI – US$72.02/barrel

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

GBP – CPI y/y at 7.30pm

EUR – EU Economic Summit