Company gross operating profits for the 3rd quarter will be in focus this morning. With no other stats to distract the markets, however, COVID-19 news updates will remain key.
Company Gross Operating Profits (QoQ) (Q3)
Building Approvals (MoM) (Oct)
Current Account (Q3)
Private Sector Credit (MoM) (Oct)
AIG Manufacturing Index (Nov)
GDP (YoY) (Q3)
GDP (QoQ) (Q3)
Trade Balance (Oct)
It was a bearish end to the week for the ASX200 on Friday.
Reversing a 0.11% gain from Thursday, the ASX200 slid by 1.73% to end the day at 7,279.
Upbeat retail sales figures for October failed to provide support, with a flight to safety sinking the index on the day.
News of a new COVID-19 strain and government plans to contain the spread of the more virulent strain led to a broad-based equity market sell-off.
In October, retail sales jumped by 4.9% versus a forecasted 2.5% rise, according to prelim figures. Retail sales had risen by 1.3% in September.
According to the ABS,
It was a bearish day for the banks. Macquarie Group led the way down, sliding by 3.22%, with NAB and Westpac seeing heavy losses of 2.37% and 2.54% respectively. CBA and ANZ ended the day down by 1.00% and by 0.73% respectively.
Commodity stocks also took a hit. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd slid by 3.86% to lead the way down, with Rio Tinto and BHP Group ending the day down by 2.25% and by 1.53% respectively. Newcrest Mining bucked the trend, however, rising by 0.83%.
Elsewhere, it was also a bearish session. The Nikkei and the Hang Seng Index slid by 2.53% and by 2.67% respectively, with the CSI300 falling by 0.74%.
It’s another relatively quiet day ahead on the Aussie economic calendar. Company gross operating profit figures for the 3rd quarter will be in focus later this morning.
While the figures tend to draw plenty of interest, COVID-19 news will remain the key driver on the day. The markets will be looking for updates on the new strain’s resilience against existing vaccines…
With over 28 years of experience in the financial industry, Bob has worked with various global rating agencies and multinational banks. Currently he is covering currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes and global equities, focusing mostly on European and Asian markets.