Just when it seemed too good to be true, Australian investors hoping the rally on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) would continue can expect to see the value of their stocks fall when trading resumes on Wednesday.
Hopes that the ASX will extend three days of gains are likely to be dashed when the ASX opens for trading at 10:00 am AEDT (11:00 pm GMT Tuesday) with the futures market pointing to the air leaking out of the rally balloon in a lower start.
At 9:30 am AEDT (10:30 pm GMT Tuesday) the S&P/ASX 200 March share price index contract was trading 52 points (+0.66%) lower than the previous settlement at 7,858 points.
The mood was dampened when United States stocks dived on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT) to end a two-day turnaround rebound as market participants waited for the Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
All major indices dropped with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.6%, the S&P 500 shedding 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite declining by 1.7%.
The Australian sharemarket had edged up on Tuesday, marking a third successive day in the black, but with little to show for a stronger start to the day as banking stock weakness undercut the benefits of eight of 11 sectors closing higher.
The S&P/ASX 200 finished just 0.1% in the black at 7,860.4 points.
Stocks to monitor including Myer Group, which releases its latest results, while Helia Group, Macmahon Holdings, Peet, Pepper Money and Perenti trade ex-dividend.
On fixed markets, the directions of Australian Treasury bonds diverged at opposite ends of the yield curve with 10-year rates falling 0.02% to 4.409% and two-year rates rising 0.27% to 3.780% respectively.
