Summary
- ASX futures up 1.6% on Monday morning, suggesting a strong start when the bell rings at 10am
- Wall Street indices made big swings on Friday. Dropping, then surging higher after better than expected jobs data. The S&P500 gained 2%, the Dow Jones 1.9%, and the Nasdaq 1.6%, but recovered more than 4% from an early-session slump
- Aussie dollar down 0.5% to US76.86 cents
- Oil prices surge with Brent crude up 4.3% to $US69.61 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate crude up 3.5% to $US66.09 a barrel
Latest posts
ASX futures up 107 points or 1.6% to 6800
- AUD -0.5% to 76.86 US cents
- On Wall St: Dow up 1.9% S&P 500 up 2% Nasdaq up 1.6%
- Spot gold +0.2% to $US1700.64/oz in New York
- Brent crude +4.3% to $US69.61 a barrel
- US oil +3.5% to $US66.09 a barrel
- Iron ore -2.2% to $US174.11 a tonne
- 2-year yield: US 0.14% Australia 0.10%
- 5-year yield: US 0.80% Australia 0.96%
- 10-year yield: US 1.57% Australia 1.82% Germany -0.30%
Most of Australia’s coal-fired power plants are running at a loss as electricity prices continue to slide, battering the profits of energy giants AGL and Origin and sparking warnings from within the industry of earlier-than-expected plant closures.
An influx of renewable energy has been driving down daytime electricity prices and piling enormous pressure on the nation’s fleet of coal-fired power stations, which are far more expensive to operate and, increasingly, struggling to compete.
The steel and coal loading operations at Port Kembla, Wollongong. Credit:Getty
New figures reveal baseload electricity prices in Victoria have crashed 70 per cent from about $80 a megawatt-hour in March 2020 to $24 this month. In New South Wales, prices have more than halved to $38.
“The price falls would place most baseload thermal generation into negative profitability,” JPMorgan analyst Mark Busuttil said. “An announcement of capacity closures could come any day.”
Industry sources, not authorised to speak publicly about internal discussions, confirmed meetings were held last week about the severity of the situation and there was now a “consensus” that at least one coal plant was likely to close its doors in response to unsustainable prices and spiralling losses.
Hello,
And welcome to today’s Markets Live blog. Your editor today is Lucy Battersby, with Alex still away on some annual leave.
It is quiet data-wise today, but should be busy given the US Senate passed the stimulus package over the weekend. Has it already been completely priced in? Has it?
This blog is not intended as financial advice.