The European Central Bank has gone for stimulus as predicted, cutting its key rate to a record low (the main refinancing rate is now negative at -0.5%) and will restart bond purchases of €20 billion a month up to shortly before the next rate decision.
Property markets across Australia & NZ are showing signs of stabilisation, with factors such as lower interest rates, more relaxed regulations by APRA, and a surprise Australian election outcome contributing to positivity.
It was a massive day in terms of stocks reporting under our research coverage. Announcements were made by companies including Spark, Fletcher Building, A2 Milk, Wisetech, and Select Harvests.
Global markets bounced overnight after the Trump administration announced a delay on select Chinese import tariffs, bringing buyers back to the equities market in a broad-based rally.
The Australian sharemarket jumped to a new record high on Tuesday, surpassing the previous milestone it set more than 11½ years ago at the peak of the mining boom.
Shares in Aussie Tech darling Afterpay have been volatile of late, following a press release from Visa highlighting the payments giant will begin testing its own payment instalments technology.
The key event for the week ahead is the G20 leaders meeting in Japan set for Friday & Saturday, with all eyes on talks between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
It generally appears as though "bad news" is "good news" once again given expectations for the US Fed to become more supportive by lowering interest rates.
Sydney and Melbourne property markets are showing early signs of ending their steep slides, with a strong bounce in auction clearance rates on the first Saturday after the federal election.
Australian shares soared to an 11-year high on Monday, as investors welcomed the surprise re-election of the Coalition, adding an extra $32.8 billion to the ASX market index value.
