News
Apple surge pushes US markets to new highs
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit new highs as Apple shares rose on AI news.
The S&P 500 rose 0.27% to close at a new high of 5,375.32. The Nasdaq rose 0.88% to also establish a new level at 17,343.55. The 30-stock Dow Jones bucked the trend and closed down 0.31% on the day.
Tuesday’s top news was the surge in Apple shares following the company’s announcement of new AI features and operating systems that are likely to trigger a wave of iPhone upgrades. Nvidia saw investors dump their shares and flock to Apple. Apple closed at a new record, rising 7.26% to $207.15 per share. Nvidia closed 0.71% lower.
Attention will now turn to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, which began on Tuesday and will end on Wednesday US time, and the May CPI number, which will be released at 10:30pm AEST.
Investors were also encouraged by a well-received sale by the US government of $39 billion in bonds, which raised hopes that the Fed will move toward rate cuts later this year. Demand was strong, with the supply/coverage ratio of 2.67 being the highest since February 2022, the month before the start of the tightening cycle, according to Bloomberg.
Fed funds futures did not indicate any chance of a cut at this week’s meeting or the next meeting in July, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
As far as US sectors are concerned, all sectors except Technology and Communications Services closed lower overnight. Finances performed the worst.
On the raw materials front, China’s central bank halted its streak of gold purchases in May after 18 months, coinciding with a record recovery in gold prices driven by safe haven demand from March to May. Despite this pause, China’s gold reserves remained unchanged at 72.80 million ounces at the end of May, following its status as the sector’s largest official buyer in 2023, with net purchases of 7.23 million ounces, as reported by the World Gold Council.
Futures
SPI futures point to a drop of 0.5%.
Coin
One Australian dollar at 7:20 am was buying 66.06 US cents.
goods
Gold lost 0.02 percent. Silver fell 2.15%. Copper fell 0.74%. Oil gained 0.21 percent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed lower. London’s FTSE fell 0.98 percent, Frankfurt lost 0.68 percent and Paris closed 1.33 percent lower.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.25 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.04 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.76 percent lower.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 1.33% lower at 7,755.38.
Ex-dividends
ALS Ltd (ASX:ALQ) is paying 19.6 cents 20 percent franchised
Limited Tower (ASX:TWR) is paying 2.3563 cents without deductible
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
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