US equities experienced a downturn, while the dollar strengthened, and precious metals declined in New York following President Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chairman. The S&P 500 closed 0.4 per cent lower, recovering from deeper losses earlier in the day. Despite the overall market slump, Tesla and Apple managed to close higher. The Australian dollar took a hit, falling more than 1 per cent, and ASX futures indicate a projected 60-point decline at Monday’s open.
According to Evercore ISI’s Krishna Guha, the Warsh nomination is expected to stabilise the dollar and mitigate the risk of extended dollar weakness. The spot dollar index rose 0.9 per cent. Gold prices plummeted 9.4 per cent, dropping below $US4900 an ounce, while silver prices plunged 27 per cent, closing below $US84 an ounce, although both metals pared some of their earlier losses.
Tesla saw a 3.3 per cent increase, driven by reports of SpaceX considering a potential merger with the electric vehicle manufacturer. Apple reversed earlier losses to finish up 0.4 per cent, following strong quarterly results. ASX 200 futures are pointing down 60 points, suggesting a 0.7 per cent decrease to 8767.
Looking ahead, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is scheduled to hold a policy meeting on Tuesday, where policymakers are widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Austal, a shipbuilder, is set to report on Monday, Amcor on Wednesday, Beach Energy on Thursday, and Atlassian, a software company, and Charter Hall REIT on Friday, among others.
