Daily Updates

The negative sentiment sparked by the upward revision to FOMC fed funds rate projection path continued on Wall Street into Thursday, though the pace of the losses slowed. The Australian dollar appreciated a little following the freefall yesterday morning, but the AUD/USD is still 8.5% down this year so far, the most since 2013.

The S&P 500 dropped most since August last night, while US Treasury yields bounced and the US dollar appreciated sharply, as the FOMC delivered a ‘hawkish’ rate cut, increasing the fed funds rate projection path somewhat more than expected and hitting a more cautious and less dovish tone.

Wall Street saw broad-based declines yesterday, as mixed US activity data added uncertainty ahead of the FOMC decision and projection update tonight. The weaker global market sentiment took the Australian dollar lower against the major currencies, with the AUD/USD trading at the lowest level since late October 2023.

US equities were again mixed last night, as investors remained anxious ahead of the FOMC decision tomorrow. There were solid declines in stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region, following another set of weak Chinese economic activity data.

US stocks closed mixed on Friday, while Treasury yields picked up, with investors speculating that a fed funds rate cut on Wednesday might be accompanied by an upward revision to interest rate projections.

Wall Street saw more broad-based declines last night, with all but one sector closing in red, as initial jobless claims jumped and US producer price inflation came in a little higher than expected.