The latest edition of our finance and property news digest with a distinctively Australian flavour.
Ricochet is defined as a glancing rebound (as of a projectile off a flat surface). And in the markets, we are seeing that in spades at the moment.
So, in this week’s market review we will as normal start in the US, cross to Europe and Asia and end in Australia. But I want to stress how volatile things are, in a situation where good news is bad news, expectations of a recession or slow down are growing, and Central Banks are still generally talking interest rates higher.
Plus, as I discussed yesterday, there is a growing divergence between the RBA’s approach compared with other Central Banks, to the point where we risk higher rates for longer in a slowing economy, which is exposed not only to exchange rate risks, but also a slowing China.
The Dow gained Friday as investors mulled a mixed jobs report and speculation about China easing Covid-19 lockdown measures, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the marketfrom snapping a three-week win streak following the Fed’s rate hike this week.In fact, global shares rose on Friday and the U.S. dollar fell, after jobs data came in stronger than expected but also hinted at some slack in the tight American labor market,triggering again that hope that the Federal Reserve might ease up on monetary tightening –despite what was said just a day earlier about higher rates.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the economy generated 261,000 jobs in October. That was higher than an estimate of 200,000expected but it also showed unemployment rising to 3.7% from 3.5% in September while wage inflation dropped to 4.7% from 5% in the prior month.Average hourly earnings increased 0.4% after rising 0.3% in September, but the rise in wages slowed to 4.7% year-on-year in October after advancing 5.0% in September.The participation rate eased back a little to 62.2%.The stronger jobs report comes just ahead of fresh inflation data next week, which if continues to show inflation running hot would lift the prospect of another 75 basis point hike next month.
In Australia. Afterpay-owner Block led the Australian sharemarket higher on Friday after reporting a stronger-than-expected third quarter profit, causing its share price to leap 10.9 per cent to $97.03.
The S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5 per cent, or 34.6 points, to 6892.5 on Friday, lifting its weekly gain to 1.6 per cent. The broader All Ordinaries index added 0.6 per cent to 7089.3 on Friday.
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