Australia
ASX futures were 20 points or 0.3% lower as of 8:00am on Wednesday, pointing to a dip at the open.
Bond yields:
- 2 Year: 3.59%
- 10 Year: 3.85%
Commodities:
- Brent crude oil: $US83.89 (+1.75%)
- Gold: $US1,827.56 (+0.57%)
Australian dollar: 67.36 US cents (unchanged)
Asia
China:
- Shanghai Composite: +0.7% (3279.61)
- Shenzhen Composite: +0.8% (2142.08)
- ChiNext: +0.8% (2429.03)
Tech shares led gains; China Telecom rose 6.4%.
Hong Kong: Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% (19785.94); worst performers included Xinyi Solar (-9.2%) and Geely (-5.0%).
Japan: Nikkei ended 0.1% higher (27445.56) with real estate and tech stocks offsetting losses in steel and shipping.
India: Sensex dropped 0.55% (58962.12); Reliance and Tata Steel each fell 2.0%.
Europe
European markets slipped on weaker economic data:
- Stoxx Europe 600: -0.2%
- German DAX: -0.1%
- French CAC 40: -0.4%
- FTSE 100: -0.74%
Ocado shares plunged 10.6% after earnings miss; Croda and Intertek also down.
North America
Markets ended February with losses:
- S&P 500: -0.3%
- Nasdaq Composite: -0.1%
- Dow Jones: -0.7% (-234 points)
Investors reacted to persistent inflation and expectations for Fed rate hikes exceeding 5%.
Notable stock moves:
- Target: +1% on better-than-expected sales
- Goldman Sachs: -3.8% after investor day remarks
- Zoom: +1.2% on strong forecast
