ASX slides after Wall Street retreats as bond yields, oil prices rebound

The Australian sharemarket declined in early trade on Thursday, tracking moves on Wall Street, which pulled back from its record high as elevated oil prices continued to stoke inflation concerns.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 30.2 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 8687.59 at 10.20am AEDT. The muted start comes after a choppy, directionless session on Wednesday. The Australian dollar was trading at US69.62¢.

On Wall Street overnight, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2 per cent, a day after topping its prior all-time high set in August. The Dow Jones dropped 0.7 per cent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2 per cent from its own record.

US stocks felt pressure as yields swung in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed as high as 5.36 per cent in the morning, up from 5.27 per cent late Tuesday and near its highest level since 2002.

Higher yields put downward pressure on prices for stocks and other investments. They can also slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. But the 10-year yield eased back to 5.28 per cent later in the day after the US Treasury sold $US39 billion ($56 billion) of 10-year Treasury notes at an auction, where the median yield was less than 5.26 per cent.

Yields also swung with oil prices, which continue to yo-yo amid uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the industry to return to normal.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, topped $US102 in the morning before falling back later in the day and eventually settling at $US100.20, down 0.4 per cent. That’s below the nearly $US110 it cost last month, but it remains well above its $US72 price from before the war began.

The International Energy Agency said on Wednesday that its members supported accelerating the release of oil from inventories that they announced earlier this year, with a particular emphasis on diesel fuel.

Also pushing up on bond yields are worries about how much debt the US government and others worldwide have racked up, plus how much more they add to it by the day.

The head of the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that record levels of debt for governments is one of the three major crosscurrents driving where the global economy is heading, along with artificial-intelligence technology and high energy prices.

“Some very tough political choices stare us in the face,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech in Singapore.

She pointed in particular to France and Italy, among other European countries with high debt.

France’s CAC 40 stock index dropped 1.2 per cent for one of the world’s biggest losses after yields for French bonds got back to jumping amid worries about the government’s debt and strained budget. Protests across France have raised pressure on the government to increase spending, which could add further to its debt.

On Wall Street, Worthington Steel fell 6.9 per cent after the metals processing and manufacturing company reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The pressure is on companies to deliver big growth in profits. Such strength would help to support stock prices when the other big lever that affects stock prices, interest rates, is pushing downward.

Analysts have high expectations for this upcoming earnings reporting season. They’re forecasting growth in earnings per share of nearly 30 per cent, according to FactSet. If companies fall short of that bar, stock prices could easily fall further from their record heights.

Constellation Brands added 2.4 per cent after the seller of Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But its gain was restrained after it also gave a forecasted range for profit over its full fiscal year whose midpoint was below what analysts expected.

In other international markets, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi sank 2 per cent for one of the world’s largest losses following a sharp drop for SK Hynix, one of its two dominant stocks.

with AP, Bloomberg

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