Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to fall, Nasdaq ekes out fifth straight record close

ASX 200 futures are trading 17 points lower, down 0.22% as of 8:30 am AEST.

The Nasdaq marked its fifth consecutive record close on Friday while the rest of the market struggled for direction.

Let's dive in.

S&P 500 SESSION CHART

S&P 500 recoups early losses to finish around breakeven (Source: TradingView)

OVERNIGHT MARKETS

• Major US benchmarks finished mostly lower on Friday but managed to recoup early losses to close near best levels

• Equal-weight S&P 500 underperformed the official benchmark by 60 bps – the underperformance of cyclical pockets of the market flags a pickup in growth concerns

• Stocks struggled for direction amid ongoing breadth concerns, political turmoil in France, volatile macro narrative and unexpectedly weak consumer sentiment data

• US weekly benchmark performance: Nasdaq (+3.24%), S&P 500 (+1.58%), Dow (-0.54%) and Russell 2000 (-1.01%)

• Goldman Sachs raises year-end S&P 500 target to 5,600 (Bloomberg)

• Evercore ISI sees S&P 500 gain raging on, upping target to 6,000 (Bloomberg)

• Low volatility, minimal trading volumes, and narrow breadth could be adding to market vulnerabilities (WSJ)

• Investors continue to bet on European sovereign debt despite French chaos (Bloomberg)

• Latest EPFR flow data shows US value stocks dumped in favour of growth stocks (Reuters)

STOCKS

• Tesla investors vote to approve Elon Musk's compensation package (Bloomberg)

• Adobe upgrades revenue guidance amid stronger demand for its AI-powered creative tools (Bloomberg)

• Microsoft withdraws from release of scrutinised Windows AI tools (Reuters)

• Roaring Kitty's latest screenshot suggests he's exited his GME call options (Bloomberg)

CENTRAL BANKS

• BOJ leaves policy unchanged, plans to taper JGB purchases with details forthcoming at next meeting (Bloomberg)

• PBOC seen leaving MLF rate steady on Monday, though voices for rate cut getting louder (Bloomberg)

GEOPOLITICS

• Macron's centrists face political wipeout as united left challenges far right in French snap elections (Reuters)

• French Finance Minister warns victory by new left-wing alliance in upcoming election could lead to EU exit (Bloomberg)

• Biden says new Ukraine security agreement signals US and allies not backing down against Russia (Bloomberg)

• China's retaliation against EU tariffs may be limited (Bloomberg)

ECONOMY

• US consumer sentiment deteriorated further in June, down to 65.6 vs. 73.0 consensus, this marks the lowest reading since November 2023 (Reuters)

ASX TODAY

• ASX 200 set to fall after a relatively soft overnight session

• Pretty much the entire overnight ETF watchlist is red, led by weakness across resources, biotech and airlines

• Adbri shareholders approve scheme of arrangement (ABC)

• Auckland International Airport reports May traffic, up 5% year-on-year (AIA)

• Ramsay Healthcare mulls selling assets within Sante business (The Aus)

• Retail Food Group holder Riguad discloses 10.06% stake (RFG)

• Rio Tinto to receive approval from Serbia to progress lithium mine (FT)

• Tabcorp confirms appointment of Gillon McLachlan as CEO (TAH)

BROKER MOVES

• ASX upgraded to Equal-weight from Underweight; target up to $54.65 from $53.50 (Morgan Stanley)

• Bluescope Steel downgraded to Underperform from Hold; target cut to $17.80 from $21.63 (Jefferies)

• Chalice Mining downgraded to Neutral from Buy; target up to $1.50 from $1.45 (UBS)

• Light & Wonder initiated add with $172 target (Morgans)

• Red 5 initiated outperform with $0.50 target (Macquarie)

Companies trading ex-dividend: 

• Mon 17 June: None

• Tue 18 June: Premier Investments (PMV) – $0.63

• Wed 19 June: Afp Pharmaceuticals (AFP) – $).01 

• Thu 20 June: None

• Fri 21 June: CSR (CSR) – $0.12 

Other ASX corporate actions today: 

• Dividends paid: EZZ Life Sciences (EZZ) – $0.015,  

• Listing: None

Economic calendar (AEST):

• 12:00 pm: China Industrial Production, Retail Sales, Fixed Asset Investment and Unemployment Rate (May)