Yahoo Finance ASX, oil, iron ore charge higher as Bitcoin crashes to two-week low
Good morning.
Here's everything you need to know for finance markets this morning.
ASX: It looks set to be a positive day of trade for the Australian share market on Wednesday. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 19 points or 0.25 per cent higher this morning.
Wall Street: Over on Wall Street, Apple has been the top boost to the Nasdaq after a report said it was in talks with battery suppliers over its electric vehicle while the S&P500 and the Dow Jones indexes were muted as investors awaited key inflation data this week.
AUD: The Australian dollar is trading at 0.7741 to the US dollar as at 7.40am this morning.
Oil: Energy producers could have a solid day on Wednesday after oil prices charged higher. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is up 1.4 per cent to US$70.19 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 1.2 per cent to US$72.34 a barrel. News that the US won’t be lifting all its sanctions on Iran gave oil prices a boost.
Gold: The gold price softened overnight. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 0.2 per cent to US$1,895.30 an ounce. The precious metal eased ahead of the release of US inflation data on Thursday.
Iron ore: Iron ore enjoyed a solid night of trade for the price of the steel making ingredient. According to Metal Bulletin, the spot iron ore price is up 3.5 per cent to US$209.50 a tonne.
Bitcoin: Bitcoin slumped to a two-week low, with analysts pointing to a technical breakdown as well as the recovery of Colonial Pipeline Co.’s ransom as evidence that crypto isn’t beyond government control.
Global growth: The World Bank has raised its global growth forecast to 5.6 per cent for 2021, marking the strongest recovery from a recession in 80 years due to US stimulus spending and faster growth in China but held back by "highly unequal" access to COVID-19 vaccines.
JobKeeper end: There are early signs some businesses are having trouble staying afloat in the absence of support from the JobKeeper wage subsidy. New analysis by commercial credit bureau CreditorWatch found business external administrations rose by 24 per cent over the past three months and credit defaults increased by nine per cent.
Property hotspots: Sydney’s soaring property market is showing no signs of slowing – but some regions in particular are earmarked for continued strong growth, a property expert has said. Here are the top 3 Sydney property hotspots for investments.
Cloud outage: Thousands of government, news and social media websites across the globe have come back online after getting hit by a widespread hour-long outage linked to US-based cloud company Fastly Inc. High-traffic sites including Reddit, Amazon, CNN, Paypal, Spotify, Al Jazeera Media Network and the New York Times went down, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.
G7 meeting: Scott Morrison will stress the importance of helping nations in Australia's region to build projects that don't create crippling debt burdens amid the continued rise of China. The prime minister will on Wednesday deliver a major foreign policy speech ahead of a trip to the United Kingdom, where he will be a guest at a meeting of world economic powers.
Mental health tax: The Victorian government's mental health tax is set to become law. State Taxation and Mental Health Acts Amendment Bill 2021 passed the Legislative Council 24-14 and will now go to the governor for royal assent.
Gambling: Cities like Las Vegas are synonymous with gambling – but the reality is Australia trumps the US in terms of individual gambling losses every year. Businesses like the Star and Crown Casinos are built around gambling and appear to be doing little to curtail the problem.
Have a great day.
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