Market Update & Important Indicators
U.S. stocks were little changed after the Federal Reserve kept the door open for a December interest-rate hike and eyed a slower path for future increases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 9 points, or less than 0.1%, at 22379, after turning negative immediately following the Fed's announcement. The blue-chip index was on track for its ninth straight session of gains. The S&P 500 dropped 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. Financial stocks rose alongside bond yields after the release of the Fed's statement following the central bank's latest two-day meeting. The S&P 500 financial sector was recently up 0.9%, compared with up 0.1% before the announcement. Higher rates tend to boost banks' net interest margins, a measure of lending profitability. The Fed said it planned to start unwinding its $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October as expected and indicated it might raise rates for a third time this year in December, adding that economic conditions would warrant "gradual" future rate increases. Energy stocks were among the best performers Wednesday, rising alongside oil prices after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that refiners continued to bring back operations last week following hurricane-related disruptions, increasing demand. The U.S. gold price traded lower overnight, shedding 0.8% to close at 1,300.50 US$/oz.
European stocks wavered Wednesday, with investors seeming to hold off before the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy update. The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.04% at 381.98, echoing quiet action seen in the U.S. Most major European indexes were little changed before the highly anticipated release of the Fed's policy statement and the news conference by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. Germany's DAX 30 index France's CAC 40 index both ticked up by 0.1%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended fractionally lower. But Spain's IBEX 35 lost the most, ending down 0.8%, following news that police in Spain arrested some Catalonian officials for their alleged involvement in planning a vote on Catalonia's secession from Spain. That ballot is set for Oct. 1, and has been declared illegal by the Spanish government.
Asia markets closed mixed. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed flat, after jumping 2% to its highest close since August 2015 Tuesday, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished up 0.3%. Meanwhile, South Korea's Kospi ended down 0.2% and the Australian S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.3% and the Shenzhen Composite was up nearly 1%.
Australian stocks maintained modest declines throughout today's trading as the market was capped by drops in some of the country's big banks and miners -collectively a large portion of the equities market. The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.1% to 5709.1, with laggards including Rio Tinto's 1.2% drop and 0.6% drops for ANZ and Westpac. The generally muted trading came ahead of later Wednesday's FOMC pronouncements and Thursday's speech from RBA Gov. Lowe titled "The Next Chapter."
The London Metal Exchange’s 3-month copper contract traded lower overnight, losing 0.2% to finish at $6,526/t. The other base metals finished mixed. Nickel prices gained 2.2% to 11,310/t, while aluminium prices bounced 2.6% to close at 2,150/t. Lead prices again rose 2.0% to close at 2,445/t, whilst Zinc prices added 0.8% to 3,149/t. Tin prices pulled back 0.2% to finish at 20,725/t.
Recent Contacts & Presentations
MZI Resources Ltd (MZI), Gascoyne Resources ltd (GCY), NTM Gold Ltd (NTM), Novo Resources Ltd (NVO:TSX), Alice Queen Ltd (AQX), Melbana Energy Ltd (MAY), TOX Free Solutions Ltd (TOX), Artemis Resources Ltd (ARV), Apollo Consolidated Ltd (AOP), Vault Intelligence Ltd (VLT), Fleetwood Corp Ltd (FWD), DTI Group Ltd (DTI), Calima Energy Ltd (CE1), Austal Ltd (ASB), Indoor Skydive Australia (IDZ), OZ Minerals Ltd (OZL), NorWest Energy Ltd (NEW), Berkut Minerals Ltd (BMT), Draig Resources Ltd (DRG), Minotaur Exploration Ltd (MEP), Ausdrill Ltd (ASL), Neometals Ltd (NMT), PNX Metals Ltd (PNX), Northern Minerals Ltd (NTU), New Century Zinc Ltd (NCZ), Metal Bank Ltd (MBK), Rift Valley Resources Ltd (RVY), Panoramic Resources Ltd (PAN)
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