MARKET WRAPS

Morning Wrap: ASX 200 to rise, more sideways trade for S&P 500 + Oil hits 5-month low

ASX 200 futures are trading 27 points higher, up 0.38% as of 8:20 am AEST.

Lead Writer
6 December 2023
This article is more than 12 months old and may be outdated
4 min read

In this article

ASX 200 futures are trading 27 points higher, up 0.38% as of 8:20 am AEST.

US stocks were mixed overnight after job openings hit levels not seen in more than two-and-a-half years, oil prices fell for a fourth straight session to a 5-month low, US bond yields continue to grind lower towards 4-6 month lows, Piper Sandler flags a "substantial deterioration" in global lithium markets and a few charts of interest.

Let's dive in.

Overnight Summary

Name
Value
% Chg
Major Indices
S&P 500
S&P 500
4,567
-0.06%
Dow Jones
Dow Jones
36,125
-0.22%
NASDAQ Comp
NASDAQ Comp
14,230
+0.31%
Russell 2000
Russell 2000
1,856
-1.38%
Country Indices
Canada
Canada
20,376
-0.17%
China
China
2,972
-1.67%
Germany
Germany
16,533
+0.78%
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
16,328
-1.91%
India
India
69,296
+0.63%
Japan
Japan
32,776
-1.37%
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
7,490
-0.31%
Name
Value
% Chg
Commodities (USD)
Gold
Gold
2,037.4
-0.47%
Iron Ore
Iron Ore
130.46
0.00%
Copper
Copper
3.786
-1.11%
WTI Oil
WTI Oil
72.41
-1.25%
Currency
AUD/USD
AUD/USD
0.6552
-1.00%
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin (AUD)
Bitcoin (AUD)
66,877
+4.78%
Ethereum (AUD)
Ethereum (AUD)
3,468
+1.92%
Miscellaneous
US 10 Yr T-bond
US 10 Yr T-bond
4.171
-2.73%
VIX
VIX
12.85
-1.76%

US Sectors

Sector
% Chg
Information Technology
+0.82%
Consumer Discretionary
+0.32%
Communication Services
+0.22%
Health Care
-0.17%
Real Estate
-0.45%
Financials
-0.51%
Sector
% Chg
Consumer Staples
-0.79%
Utilities
-0.81%
Industrials
-0.86%
Materials
-1.37%
Energy
-1.70%

S&P 500 SESSION CHART

S&P 500 intraday
S&P 500 breakeven in a relatively uneventful session (Source: TradingView)

MARKETS

  • S&P 500 closed around breakeven in a relatively uneventful session

  • Almost a third of the S&P 500 has RSIs over 70, according to Goldman Sachs

  • Bond yields continue to grind lower, with the US 2-year close to a 6-month low and 10-year at a 4-month low 

  • Crude oil fell for a 4th straight session to lowest level since July 7

  • Market narratives remains unchanged and focused on disinflation momentum, peak Fed, growing soft landing expectations, a rotation from the Magnificent Seven to laggards (small caps, unprofitable tech and growth), big systematic fund buying and a sizeable swing in sentiment

STOCKS

  • Birkenstock and other new IPOs finally close above listing price (Bloomberg)

  • Apple supplier Foxconn raises growth outlook (Reuters)

  • Nio shares climb on smaller-than-expected Q3 loss (CNBC)

  • Albemarle downgraded by Piper Sandler to Underweight, citing a ‘“substantial deterioration” in global lithium markets (CNBC)

  • Eli Lilly rolls outs weight-loss drug Zepbound at pharmacies while Wegovy faces shortages (CNBC)

CENTRAL BANKS

  • Fed cuts possible in 1Q24 on falling inflation and easing job market (Axios)

  • RBA keeps rate on hold but conditions further tightening on data and potential risks (Bloomberg)

  • ECB hawk Schnabel softens stance, says hikes are done (Reuters)

GEOPOLITICS

  • Israel continues to widen campaign against Hamas (NY Times)

  • Israel touts high-tech evacuation plan amid rising Gaza death toll (FT)

  • Ukraine expects large risk of losing war if US congress delays aid (Reuters)

CHINA

  • China services activity rises to 3-month high (Reuters)

  • China seen targeting 'ambitious' 2024 growth target of about 5% (FT)

  • Moody's downgrades China's credit rating to "negative" to "stable", cites costs to bail out local government and state firms and control its property crisis would weigh on the economy (AFR)

ECONOMY

  • US job openings hit near three year low, well below consensus (Reuters)

  • US service sector picks up in November (Reuters)

  • BofA says signs US economy is slowing, remains positive in outlook (Bloomberg)

  • Japan service activity grows at slowest pace in a year in November (Reuters)

  • Tokyo core inflation eases but services inflation hits 29 year high (Bloomberg)

  • South Korean inflation slows to 3.3%, more than expected (Bloomberg)

  • UK services sector expanding at fastest rate since July (Reuters)

  • Eurozone PMI stabilises at weak levels and marks the best print in four months (Reuters)


Industry ETFs

Name
Value
% Chg
Commodities
Silver22.12
-1.51%
Steel69.25
-1.55%
Gold Miners30.48
-1.74%
Lithium & Battery Tech45.87
-2.05%
Uranium28.76
-2.14%
Copper Miners34.33
-2.17%
Strategic Metals54.01
-4.17%
Industrials
Agriculture22.01
+0.14%
Construction56.63
-0.46%
Aerospace & Defense121.19
-0.86%
Global Jets17.78
-1.55%
Healthcare
Biotechnology122.9
-0.40%
Name
Value
% Chg
Healthcare
Cannabis5.84
-2.83%
Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin21.78
+4.96%
Renewables
Solar47.23
-1.07%
CleanTech9.96
-1.39%
Hydrogen6.7
-2.62%
Technology
Cybersecurity27.5
+0.33%
Cloud Computing21.21
-0.47%
Robotics & AI26.57
-0.56%
Semiconductor507.38
-0.57%
FinTech23.02
-0.60%
Electric Vehicles22.99
-0.61%
Video Games/eSports54.52
-0.94%
E-commerce19.88
-1.14%
Sports Betting/Gaming16.01
-1.36%

Be Careful What You Wish For

US job openings came in at 8.7 million, well below consensus expectations of 9.3 million and down substantially from September 9.5 million. This marked a third straight month of declines and the lowest reading since March 2021.

Sectors that flagged the largest decline in job openings include: Healthcare and Social Assistance (-236,000), Finance and Insurance (-168,000) and Real Estate (-49,000).

The underwhelming jobs data continues to feed into Peak Fed and rate cut hopes. But be a little careful for what you wish for.

SPX 2023-12-06 08-11-35
S&P 500 (Blue) vs. JOLTs Job Openings (Red) indexed to 100 (Source: TradingView)

The Fakeout

The gold chart went from an epic breakout to all-time highs to an equally epic fakeout in a matter of hours on Monday. The spike occurred during an illiquid time period on Monday morning and may reflect a melting pot of stop loss orders and fresh longs.

GOLD 2023-12-06 08-13-34
Gold weekly chart (Source: TradingView)

Copper also experienced a brief trendline break to a 4-month high before whipping back.

HG1! 2023-12-06 08-15-39
Copper weekly chart (Source: TradingView)

Key Events

ASX corporate actions occurring today:

  • Trading ex-div: None

  • Dividends paid: None

  • Listing: None

Economic calendar (AEDT):

  • 9:00 am: AI Group Industry Index (Nov)

  • 11:30 am: Australia GDP Growth (Q3)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lead Writer

Kerry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Monash University. He is passionate about equity research and trading (swing and intraday), with a focus on breaking down market-related catalysts into clear, contextual insights and developing data-driven market biases.

05/06/2026