The benchmark US share index, the S&P 500, is now 4% off a recent record high as investors remain cautious about the prospect of interest rates remaining higher for longer.
“Chip makers were the main drivers for the benchmark decline, not helped by ASML (-6.7%) underwhelming new orders figures while Nvidia also struggled, down almost 4%,” NAB senior FX strategist Rodrigo Catril notes.
“Overall the IT sector fell 1.7% with Utilities the notable outperformers, up 2.08%.”
No surprise then that the Nasdaq was down 1.2% to the S&P 500’s much more modest 0.6% decline. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average eased just 0.1%.
Fortunately for Australia, in this case, we don’t have much of a tech sector.
Instead, a lot of our biggest companies dig stuff up out of the ground and put it on ships, mainly to China.
The main thing we dig up is iron ore, and it went on a bit of a tear yesterday, surging 6.4% to $116.40.
That sent our two biggest miners, BHP and Rio Tinto, up sharply in overseas share trade and they are likely to track a similar upward trajectory locally, dragging the market indices with them.
The ASX SPI 200 futures are up 0.3% to 7,665 points.
Grab a coffee and settle in — I’ll be sharing blog duties with Kate Ainsworth today and happy to take your questions about the Australian jobs data out at 11:30am AEST.
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