AU Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to Rise, Life360 Release Earnings
G'day, mooers! Check out the latest news on today's stock market!
• Wall Street indexes rose Thursday, Dow notches 7th consecutive day of gains
• ASX gain, Suncorp and QBE retreat after results
• Stocks to watch: Suncorp Group, QBE, Helia, Metcash, Life360
Wall Street Summary
The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US$ gained more than 300 points Thursday afternoon and the $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US$ and $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US$ rose as well as markets cheered a rate-cut-friendly jobless-claims report.
Markets rose in part after U.S. weekly initial jobless claims came in high at 231,000 -- their highest level since August, and well above the 212,000 reading that economists had expected.
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins spoke at an MIT event Wednesday, where she signaled interest rates will likely need to be held at a two-decade high for longer than previously thought, Bloomberg reported. She said slower growth was necessary to ensure inflation was on a path to 2%, and would not say when the Fed would cut.
AU Market Watch
Australian shares pushed higher minutes after opening on Friday, tracking a positive session on Wall Street after data reinforced expectations of interest rate cuts in the world's largest economy.
The benchmark $S&P/ASX 200(.XJO.AU$ rose 0.4 per cent or 27.6 points to 7749.2 and the All Ords also gained 0.4 per cent.
Out of the 11 sectors, eight were flashing green with communications and energy leading gains.
Commodity
Spot gold +1.2% to $US2335.40/oz at 2.04pm in New York;
Brent crude +0.1% to $US83.62 a barrel;
Iron ore +1.3% to $US116.20 a tonne.
Crypto
As of latest data, $Bitcoin(BTC.CC$ is priced at $62,818, up 2.43% in the past 24 hours, while $Ethereum(ETH.CC$ is priced at $3,025, up 1.40% in the past 24 hours.
Stocks to Watch
Regional lender $Suncorp Group Ltd(SUN.AU$ fell 0.9 per cent after reporting an $85 million increase past due loans in the March quarter to $510 million.
Insurance group $QBE Insurance Group Ltd(QBE.AU$ dropped 1.3 per cent even as it confirmed its full-year outlook of gross written premium to grow in the mid-single digits.
Shareholders of listed lenders mortgage insurance business $Helia Group Ltd(HLI.AU$ jumped 2.3 per cent after announcing an up to $100 million share buyback which would reduce issued shares by nearly 10 per cent.
$Metcash Ltd(MTS.AU$ eased 0.3 per cent on news that its Independent Hardware Group (IHG) chief executive was stepping down.
Economic Calendar (AEST):
4:00pm – GBP – GDP, construction output, goods trade balance, industrial production, manufacturing production, business investment
10:30pm – CAD – Employment change, unemployment rate
12:00am – University of Michigan consumer sentiment and inflation expectations
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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