S&P 500 chalks up another record, but ASX futures down 34 points
The S&P/ASX 200 index (XJO) increased 30 points to close at 6161 yesterday, a gain of about 0.5%.
Once again, Afterpay (ASX:APT) was a star performer as it soared 11.8%.
However, after two consecutive days of gains it would appear that the market is poised for a retracement on Wednesday with the ASX SPI200 index down 34 points to 6094 points.
This trend is likely to be driven by the performance of overseas markets where early session gains were eroded as negative sentiment took hold.
It was predominantly disappointing US consumer confidence data that triggered a downturn in the Dow throughout afternoon trading.
24 hours
The Asia-Pacific region was mixed yesterday with the Nikkei 225 gaining 311 points or 1.3% to close just shy of 23,300 points, a stark contrast to China and Hong Kong which both fell by about 0.3%.
The Hang Seng shed 65 points to close at 25,486 points, while the Shanghai Composite came off 12 points, closing at 3373 points.
The FTSE 100 traded in similar fashion to US markets, up nearly 70 points early in the session before closing down seven points or 1.1% at 6037 points.
The DAX was also a victim of a late session rout which saw the index fall from a high of 13,221 points just after the open to finish at 13,061 points.
There was little movement in the CAC 40 as it closed at 5008 points.
In the US, the Dow started the day in positive territory, but this was short lived as the index fell sharply throughout the morning before stabilising in the afternoon to close down 60 points or 0.2% at 28,248 points.
The S&P 500 index defied negative sentiment, increasing 12 points or 0.3% to move to a record close of 3443 points.
The NASDAQ continued its strong run, making yet another record high before closing at 11,466 points, up 0.8%.
It didn’t appear to be impacted by weakness in afternoon trading, perhaps indicating that the ASX could fair better than futures markets suggest.
There was little movement in the gold price, and it is currently fetching US$1937 per ounce.
The Brent Crude Oil Continuous Contract strengthened throughout the session, rallying more than 2% from about US$45 per barrel to close just above US$46 per barrel.
Iron ore continued to trend downwards, coming off nearly 2% to close at US$123 per tonne.
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