Thursday 6th February 2020

Markets are on the rise again this morning, based on positive economic data from the US and, to an extent, for Europe, whilst hoping that the Coronavirus won’t deliver any worse news. As Phil Dobbie discusses with NAB’s Gavin Friend, this combination has delivered a further rise in US equities and strengthened the US dollar, with bond yields also rising. The US non-manufacturing ISM read for January was up more than expected, actually at its best level since August. Gavin says there’s optimism from a number of central banks lately, which was reflected in Philip Lowe’s address to the Press Club yesterday. Today, all eyes will be on Australian retail sales numbers.