ASX200 – U.S Inflation and Weekend Omicron News to Set the Tone

The ASX200

It was a bearish end to the week, with the ASX200 falling for a 2^nd consecutive day on Friday. Following a 0.28% decline on Thursday, the ASX200 fell by 0.43% to end the day at 7,354.

There were no major stats from the Australian session to provide direction through the day. The lack of stats left the markets to look ahead to U.S inflation figures due out late in the day.

With the U.S inflation figures considered key to next week’s FOMC projections, the Big-4 and commodity stocks had a mixed session.

The Stats

There were no major stats from Australia to provide direction.

The Market Movers

It was a mixed day for the banks. Westpac fell by 0.81%, with ANZ down by 0.51%. CBA (-0.27%) and NAB (-0.21%) also saw red. Macquarie Group bucked the trend, however, rising by 0.02%.

Commodity stocks also had a mixed session. Newcrest Mining slid by 1.74%, with Fortescue Metals Group Ltd and BHP Group seeing losses of 0.82% and 0.60% respectively. Rio Tinto avoided the red, however, rising by 0.03%

Other Asian Markets

Elsewhere, it was also a bearish session. The Nikkei225 and the Hang Seng Index fell by 1.07% and by 1.00% respectively, with the CSI300 ending the day down by 0.46%.

The Day Ahead

It’s another particularly quiet day ahead on the Aussie economic calendar. There are no material stats from Australia to provide direction through the session.

The lack of stats will leave the markets to respond to the U.S inflation figures from Friday and Omicron news updates.

Friday’s gains across the U.S markets should deliver early support, with the rate of acceleration of U.S core inflation having eased in November.

The Futures

In the futures markets, at the time of writing, the ASX200 was up by 13 points.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.