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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
A listener production. Stocks rise and oil slides on peace deal hopes.
But doubts are growing by the hour on a US-Iran agreement being announced today. So how might markets react?
Plus, a record-breaking stock market debut for SpaceX. Good morning, I'm James Gruber.
Chapter 2: What factors are driving the rise in stocks and fall in oil prices?
And I'm Gillian Bowen. It's Monday the 15th of June and this is the morning edition of the ComSec Market Update.
So the Middle East war is back in focus today. Sunday US time was touted by Donald Trump as the day in agreement with Iran would be signed.
Chapter 3: What uncertainties surround the US-Iran peace agreement?
But as the day draws to a close there, uncertainty is growing. Iran now says there are some key points still to be agreed to, including in relation to the Strait of Hormuz.
And earlier today, Israel carried out a strike on Lebanon, complicating things even further. The US president has taken to social media saying the attack should not have happened so close to a peace deal with Iran. So while investors on Friday were perhaps feeling optimistic about a path to peace revealing itself over the weekend, the situation is now again volatile.
Well, yes, and we've been in this situation multiple times since mid-March. I will note the Aussie futures when they were last trading were up 0.4%, pointing to a higher open for our share market when it begins the trading week, but there is plenty for investors to now digest.
And a recap on Friday, the ASX 200 closed sharply higher, gaining 2% to $8,804.
Chapter 4: How did investors react to the latest developments in the Middle East?
The top performing stocks in this index were Genesis Minerals and the A2 Milk Company, up 10.8% and 10.2% respectively. Over the last five days, the index has gained 2.1% and is currently 4.2% off its 52-week high.
So let's move on to commodities. James, where are we at with that?
Chapter 5: What was the impact of SpaceX's stock market debut?
Well, global oil prices fell to their lowest level since early March as traders grew more confident about an imminent peace deal between the US and Iran. Brent crude futures settled 3.4% lower at US$87.33 a barrel. Base metal prices were higher, buoyed by those hopes that the US and Iran could sign a peace deal. Copper futures jumped 2.7%, while aluminium futures lifted by 1.7%.
Gold futures rebounded after heavy losses earlier in the week on expectations of higher US interest rates. The futures settled up 3% at US$4,239 an ounce. Meantime, iron ore futures were steady at US$101.62 a tonne.
So let's have a look at currencies then. They were mixed against the US dollar. One Australian dollar is buying 70.47 US cents. The euro is worth 1.1578 US dollars, while one US dollar is buying 160.17 Japanese yen. Okay, let's get a wrap of what's happened with overseas markets. The Dow Jones Index finished up 0.7%. The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher and the NASDAQ added 0.3%.
What was at play, James, for investors on Friday?
So US share markets ended higher at the end of the week as investors held out hope for a peace deal and as SpaceX surged on its debut of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, 10 gained with materials and financials leading the way. SpaceX shares closed up 19% at $160.95 well above its IPO price of $135 a piece. Its market capitalization was last at $2.1 trillion.
The company ended up doing $85 billion in volume in its first day as a publicly listed company. It's easily a record for an IPO. For context, Meta and Alibaba did $25 billion, and it's in the top 10 all-time for any stock on any day. Also, it's more volume than Apple has ever done in 40 years listed on the stock market.
Shares of other space stocks, which soared in the lead-up to the debut, eased on Friday. Rocket Lab stock fell almost 11%, while Intuitive Machines was down 13%, and Planet Labs declined almost 9%. Shares of Tesla, another Musk company that trades at a premium to its earnings, ended 1.8% higher. Semiconductor shares climbed again, rising 1.5%.
with Intel and Western Digital climbing the most, up 6.5% and 6.4% respectively. On the flip side, Adobe slid almost 7% after the exit of its CFO. U.S. government bond yields rose from one-week lows on Friday as traders focused on the prospect of the peace deal with Iran and looked ahead to this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, which will be the first under the leadership of Kevin Walsh.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 2 points to 4.48%, while the U.S. 2-year Treasury yield also advanced 2 points to 4.09%.
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Chapter 6: How did Australian and US stock markets perform recently?
I'm Gillian Bowen. And I'm James Gruber.
Have a great day.
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