Marcus Today Pre-Market Podcast – Monday 28th August

US markets finished higher on Friday as the market weighed remarks from Fed Chair Powell at the Jackson Hole Summit. Dow Jones rose 247 points (+0.73%). Up 342 points at best. Down 70 points at worst. While the S&P 500 and Nasdaq added 0.67% and 0.94%, respectively. The narrative from the Fed didn’t change after hype all week for additional clues. Powell addressed the string of resilient economic data while stating that the Fed is prepared to raise rates further to bring inflation down back to its target of 2%. Powell also suggested that the September interest rate would likely remain unchanged to evaluate incoming data continuing with the “data dependent’ narrative.

On the week, the ASX 200 was down 33 points (-0.46%), Dow lost 0.45%, S&P 500 up 0.82%, and the Nasdaq rose 2.25%. During the week, oil fell by 1.8%, iron ore rose by 1.3%, and gold saw a $17 increase. All metal prices were up, with zinc leading at 3.8% growth. The focus was on results last week. Gold was the top-performing sector, up 3.8%, along with a 1.78% rise in consumer discretionary. Healthcare -2.73% and consumer staples -2.53% were the worst-performing sectors due to Coles disappointing results, while Woolworths and Wesfarmers showed improvement. Utilities were down by 2.25%, and the resources sector fell by 0.3%.

• ASX to rise at opening bell. SPI Futures up 20 points (+0.28%).

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