Market Watch APAC
Markets were muted overnight due to a lack of data, and as they await more earnings reports later in the week.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, weakened by poor earnings reports from Alphabet and Tesla while UPS suffered its worst fall ever after profits disappointed.
The Dow Jones and the NASDAQ both fell 0.1%.
Investors will be looking for tech stocks earnings released later in the week to confirm the high price expectations that have been the recent driver in equity moves higher.
In debt markets overnight the US treasury auction traded lower in the short end, confirming expected rate cuts.
The USD gained against most major currencies except for the recalcitrant USD/JPY which continues to do its own thing in the face of flat interest rates and a determined central bank. The AUD continued its recent trend lower, pushing below 66 cents. Markets are surmising that this has been driven by a combination of recent USD strength and general commodity weakness.
Crude markets continued their slide with West Texas futures down 1.8% to US$76.96 per barrel. Metals continued their aggressive slide lower with copper down another 0.5% to US$9,090 as production grew over 6% YTD and iron ore prices tested below US$100.
