Advanced Share Registry : Market News 08 Jan 2021

Riotous Trump supporters trespassing, vandalising, and looting Washington's Capitol Hill building yesterday, pushed markets up solidly overnight. Well, maybe not, but the body blow to the idea of American Exceptionalism certainly didn't slow down the everything-works bull market with all primary equity benchmarks scoring all-time highs. Democrat leaders demanded Trump's immediate removal from office with the threat to impeach him if the GOP doesn't act. With only two weeks of his term left, Republicans are unlikely to inflame tensions further let alone deny the real estate agent a few more rounds golf as POTUS.

Sage Money managers and brokers will point to Biden's Presidential certification on Thursday to qualify such things- After all his legislative ambition, powered by Democrat majorities in Congress and the Senate, will run stimulus taps for many months yet. Even Bitcoin hit an all-time high as lazy money anticipates easy money, to run riot inside the hallowed grounds of portfolio theory. If no other surprises emerge, the real crunch will come around Autumn in Australia when vaccines should have significantly reshaped Corvids impact. After that, earnings will have to stand on their own two feet without the qualification of 'looking ahead' 6 to 9 months as multiples do now.

Seventy per cent of S&P 500 companies closed 1.5% higher with Techs Nasdaq100 trumping that for a +2.5% close. Tesla surged 7.9% intraday for a record of $792 after several Broker upgrades which also placed Elon Musk as the world's richest bloke, should you be concerned about such things. Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook all grabbed 2-3 per cent for themselves. The Russell 2000 Index of small caps fattened up 8% in just the last three days. The US Challenger Job Cuts indicator edged higher for the first month of flu season as planned dismissals for US-based employers rose to 77,030 in December from 64,797 in the prior month. New unemployment insurance claims fell a meagre 3000 to 787,000 while Initial Jobless Claims and ISM Services PMI data will emerge tonight for a fuller view. Treasuries were sold off in anticipation of a weaker USD, but the dollar gained ground against other currencies, including our runaway dollar, down to US77.25 cents. The 10- year yields now sits at 1.07% which is unlikely to excite investors enough to compete with equities for some time yet.

China is finally showing some Covid-19 'strain' after heavily promoting Wuhan as normalised with pictures of all-night parties widely circulated by its State media recently. Three hours from the capital, the city of Shijiazhuang is now the country's biggest outbreak in two months, with eleven million people locked down with less fuss than Melbourne's Queen Victoria Markets. The differences in scale between a Chinese problem and an American problem should be notable if not breathtaking for long term investors.

Dow Jones	31041.13	+211.73	+0.7%
US S&P500	3803.79	+55.65	+1.5%
US Nasdaq	13067.48	+326.686	+2.6%
UK FTSE	6856.96	+15.1	+0.2%
German Dax	13968.24	+76.27	+0.6%
Gold Futures ($US/oz)	1913.6	+5.00	+0.3%
Spot Iron Ore ($US/t)	170.60	+2.65	+1.6%

Bidens 306 votes in the Electoral College buoyed investors across the Atlantic with Europe's STOXX 600 index up 0.5% as construction and materials stocks led gains +2.3%. Inflation remaining negative, at -0.3% according to a flash estimate didn't slow buyers let alone another 50 000 cases in the UK. Sentiment even improved coming in at -0.3% according to a flash estimate from the European Commission. Our markets have added 17 points on the open, likely muted after the PM supported Brisbane residents' three-day lockdown. Restocking demand from Chinese steel mills pushed spot ore prices to $US171.69 a tonne at one point.

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