Yahoo Finance ASX rises but flood of economic data, Melb lockdown cast a shadow
Good morning.
Here's everything you need to know for finance markets today.
ASX: The Australian share market is expected to open the week slightly higher this morning. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 6 points or 0.1 per cent higher.
Wall Street: US stocks climbed at the close on Friday as investors brushed off a stronger than expected inflation reading as both the Dow and S&P 500 indexes clinched their first weekly gain in the past three weeks.
AUD: The Australian dollar is trading at 0.7706 to the US dollar as at 7.10am this morning.
Oil: It could be a poor start to the week for energy producers after oil prices softened on Friday. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price fell 0.8 per cent to US$66.32 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price dropped 0.7 per cent to US$68.72 a barrel. This wasn’t enough to stop both benchmarks from recording gain of over 3 per cent for the week.
Gold: Gold miners will be on watch today after the gold price pushed higher on Friday night. According to CNBC, the spot gold price rose 0.35 per cent to US$1,905.30 an ounce. This meant the precious metal climbed 1.4 per cent over the five days, thanks partly to a pullback in bond yields and the US dollar.
Bitcoin: Bitcoin rose 5.24 per cent to $36,447.68 at 12:00 GMT on Sunday, adding $1,815.60 to its previous close. Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is up 31.4 per cent from the year's low of $27,734 on Jan. 4.
Economic data: By the end of this week Australians should have a good idea how the economy is travelling and what it may look like over the rest of the year. A wide spread of economic figures will be released- from housing to international trade - but also the all important national accounts which will show whether last year's sharp recovery from recession continued in the first part of 2021.
RBA: Amid a blizzard of economic events this week, there seems little doubt over Reserve Bank making any change to its suite of policies when its board meets on Tuesday. The central bank has already flagged that any changes to its bond targeting and buying program aimed at keeping market interest rates low will be announced at its July meeting.
UK trade: Australia and the UK continue to negotiate plans for a free-trade agreement. Beef and lamb are subjects under consideration, as well as issues surrounding mobility, investment and services.
Melbourne mansion: A Melbourne mansion defines its state lockdown and sells for a whopping $6.52 million when it went under the hammer over the weekend, in what was the highest sale throughout Australia.
Have a great day.
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