Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars. Market...

  1. 14,238 Posts.
    lightbulb Created with Sketch. 6
    Morning traders. Thanks Trees and after-market regulars.

    Market wrap:

    The ASX 200's latest assault on 6000 remains on track after a well-received after-market profit report from Apple offset a pullback in US stocks from record levels.

    The June SPI 200 futures contract edged up nine points or almost 0.2% to 5981 as Apple climbed in after-market trade in the US this morning. Shares in the world's largest company by market capitalisation were lately up 1.35% after it reported a 33% increase in earnings following the close of regular trade.

    The S&P 500 retreated nine points or 0.41% from Friday's all-time closing high ahead of the Apple earnings update and the start of a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting tonight. The Dow lost 42 points or 0.23% and the Nasdaq 32 points or 0.63%. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index tumbled 4.11% after Mylan rejected a US$40 billion take-over offer from Teva.

    “You’ve got biotechnology down here now, leading everything lower,” Michael Antonelli, managing director at Robert W. Baird & Co in the US, told Bloomberg. “The market obviously wants to go higher, but it’s struggling to make its way, to get that breakout and confirm it.”

    A cautious session saw traders take profits ahead of the Fed meeting and Apple report. Apple shares rallied 1.82% during regular trade and were lately up another 1.35% after the company reported a 33% increase in earnings and raised its dividend. Read more here.

    The Russell 2000 index of small caps paced overnight falls with a loss of 1.17%. The health sector, one of the market's recent standouts, was the biggest weight on the S&P 500 and the Dow, falling 1.4%. Dow components Pfizer and UnitedHealth both fell around 2%.

    "I don't think [last night's S&P 500 move] was a new pattern because we were used to the S&P getting near highs then pulling back," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, in the US, told CNBC. "Health care has outperformed everybody else... Rather than a market meltdown, it's profit taking on a high-flying momentum group."

    Gold stocks were among the market bright spots, rising 1.9% as pre-Fed meeting caution and the lack of a breakthrough in Greece's debt negotiations helped boost gold back above US$1,200 an ounce at a two-week high. Gold for June delivery settled $28.20 or 2.4% higher at US$1,203.20 an ounce.

    The rally in the US listings of BHP and Rio Tinto showed signs of fatigue overnight despite another rise in iron ore and strength across commodity stocks. BHP advanced 0.96% to a new two-month high, but Rio Tinto dipped 0.2%. Spot iron ore for import to China yesterday improved $1.70 to US$58.70 a dry tonne.

    Oil eased for a second session amid concerns about demand even as US production continues to taper. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for June delivery settled 16 cents or 0.3% lower at US$56.99 a barrel.

    Nickel rallied strongly for a second night as an Indonesian export ban encouraged buying. London nickel gained 2.7% overnight, extending Friday's 3.9% advance. Also in London, copper put on 0.6%, aluminium 0.7%, lead 2%, tin 2.9% and zinc 2.5%. US copper for May delivery was recently up 1% at US$2.77 a pound.

    European markets jumped higher after Greece replaced the controversial head of the team negotiating its debt repayments. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.98% as Germany's DAX charged 1.93%, France's CAC 1.3% and Britain's FTSE 0.47%. Greece's Athex Composite surged 4.4%.

    The dollar was this morning buying 78.61 US cents.

    TRADING THEMES TODAY

    LEG-UP FROM APPLE?: The overnight lead from Wall Street is broadly negative, but a strong quarterly report from the world's largest company may offer the ASX 200 a path to 6000. Apple is such a significant factor on the major US indices that this morning's result will likely change the mood in US equity futures heading into tonight. Another factor to consider is that index breakouts tend to fail when everyone expects them to succeed, then happen when expectations are low - that's how the institutions play the retail trade. In other words, I'm cautiously optimistic that today will be better than the leads suggest.

    ECONOMIC NEWS: Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens is due to address a Sydney banking summit at 8.40am EST. The Conference Board's leading index of economic indicators is due at 10am. In the US, a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting gets underway tonight. Also scheduled: April consumer confidence data, Richmond Manufacturing Index and house price index.

    Good luck to all.
 
arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch. arrow-down-2 Created with Sketch.