ASX defies Wall Street to hit a 20-day high in early trade

“Manufacturing has stalled and the service sector’s rebound from the pandemic has gone into reverse, as the tailwind of pent-up demand has been overcome by the rising cost of living, higher interest rates and growing gloom about the economic outlook,” Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a statement accompanying the survey data.

Similar reports earlier in the morning also suggested weakness in Europe, underscoring how fragile the global economy is as central banks jack up interest rates in order to whip inflation. Higher rates make economic conditions more difficult, and too-aggressive hikes could cause a recession.

Friday’s reports are the latest to show parts of the economy are slowing more than expected. While that raises the threat of a recession, it also has traders ratcheting back expectations for the Federal Reserve’s aggressiveness next week. Instead of a full percentage point, traders now see an increase in rates of 0.75 percentage point as the most likely outcome.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 2.76 per cent from 2.91 per cent late Thursday.

In the stock market, the company behind the Snapchat app tumbled 39.1 per cent after it reported a worse loss and lower revenue for the spring than Wall Street forecast.

The weakness for Snap could mean pressure on other companies that depend on internet advertising, which also happen to be among Wall Street’s most influential stocks. The parent companies of both Facebook and Google are scheduled to report their earnings next week. The pair fell 7.6 per cent and 5.6 per cent respectively on Friday, accounting for two of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

The S&P 500 lost 37.32 points to close at 3,961.63. The Dow fell 137.61 to 31,899.29, and the Nasdaq fell 225.50 to 11,834.11.

Adding to the pain for tech, data storage company Seagate Technology lost 8.1 per cent. It said anti-COVID measures in Asia and slowing global economic conditions last quarter hit its results, which fell short of forecasts.

Verizon dropped 6.7 per cent after its profit fell short of expectations, though its revenue squeaked past. It also cut its forecast for earnings this year.

On the winning side was American Express, which rose 1.9 per cent after it delivered better profit for the spring than analysts expected. It said customers spent more on travel and entertainment in April than they did before the pandemic, the first time that’s happened.

The encouraging data bolstered some recent comments from CEOs at big banks, who said their customers appear to be in solid financial shape despite all the worries about inflation and the economy.

Despite Friday’s drops for Wall Street, the S&P 500 still rose 2.5 per cent for the week.

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Besides the easing of Treasury yields through the week, dropping prices for crude oil and other commodities also provided some relief on the inflation front. They add to some signals suggesting inflation may be close to peaking, such as easing expectations for inflation in future years, said Nate Thooft, senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management.

“Inflation is the most important thing,” he said. “It’s not earnings, it’s not the Fed, it’s not interest rates themselves. It’s the uncertainty of inflation.”

“To me, as soon as you see real evidence that inflation is stabilising and improving, all the other things also become less problematic,” he said. The war in “Ukraine is separate and off in the corner, but all the others are related, and the epicentre is inflation.”

AP

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