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Wall St shook off the mixed closed to last week with a record finish on Monday as the S&P500 rose 0.28% to a record high 5,718.57 points while the Dow Jones added 0.15% to another record 42,124.65 and the Nasdaq ended the day up 0.14%. Investors overlooked the latest US economic data in the form of a 15-month low for manufacturing PMI activity in the US for August to welcome the Fed’s rate cut outlook. Investors will now look forward to the latest weekly jobless claims data out later this week.
European markets also started the week in positive territory investors assessed fresh business activity data out in the region. The STOXX600 rose 0.4%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.68%, the French CAC added 0.1% and, in the UK, the FTSE100 ended the day up 0.36%.
Across the Asia region on Monday in mostly positive territory as investors assessed monetary policy decisions out of China and Japan last week with both central banks maintaining rates steady for the next period. China’s CSI index rose 0.37%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2%, The Taiwan
Weighted Index added 0.57% and Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday.
Locally to start the week, the ASX200 fell 0.7% at the closing bell on Monday to snap a 7-day winning streak as a sharp sell off in the big supermarkets weighed on the consumer staples sector while real estate and discretionary stocks also fell 1.6% and 1.32% respectively.
Woolworths and Coles, the big supermarket giants, fell 3.4% and 3.3% respectively on Monday after the ACCC said the companies were misleading shoppers with claims they were dropping prices when they were actually increasing them. Both supermarket giants could be facing tens of millions of dollars in penalties.
Iron ore miners were once again under pressure yesterday amid a decline in the price of the key commodity on the back of renewed concerns about demand out of China as the world’s second largest economy continues its sluggish post pandemic recovery.
Boss Energy soared over 8% on Monday in the wake of a megadeal by Microsoft to restore life to a major US nuclear plant. The deal will see Microsoft buy 100% of its power for 20-years, which drove the price of uranium and subsequently, Boss Energy on Monday as Boss Energy’s 30% stake in the
Alta Mesa uranium mine in south Texas now becomes more valuable in the global ramp up of nuclear power.
All eyes today will be on the RBA as the latest rate decision will be announced this afternoon with the market expecting Australia’s central bank to maintain the current cash rate at 4.35%.
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