ASX200 afternoon wrap 16th of March 2022

Apart from being the first interest rate hike in the US since December 2018, the Federal Reserve will make modern monetary history tomorrow, tightening monetary policy precisely one week after its last round of bond buying.

A whopping 30% fall in the price of crude oil over the past week has eased fears of a more aggressive Federal Reserve tightening cycle. The relief has been palpable in the beaten-up IT Sector, adding 3.24%. The star of the show, Block (SQ2), lifted by 7.81% to $144.06. Appen Ltd (APX), Wisetech Global (WTC) and Seek (SEK) all added over 4.50%.

A good day for the Financial Sector, adding 0.86% ahead of tomorrow’s Australian jobs data release that should see the unemployment rate drop to 4.1%, a fresh post-pandemic low.

ANZ is the best of the big four banks, adding 1.84% to $27.17, approximately 10%, above its lows from last week. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) added 0.63% to $104.44, taking it to fresh year to date highs. Westpac (WBC) lifted 0.64% to $23.66, National Australia Bank (NAB) added 0.10% to $30.70, while Macquarie Group (MQG) added 1.65% to $189.28.

Enjoying the tailwinds of lower jet fuel price, as crude oil fell below $100 and following the news that New Zealand will begin opening its borders next month, travel stocks have made good gains. Qantas (QAN) shares lifted 2.53% to $5.07, Webjet (WEB) added 3.37% to $5.67, and Flight Centre (FLT) added 1.65% to $19.13.

In theory, there must be a loser for every winner but not today. Despite crude oil futures closing over 6% lower overnight for a second successive session, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) lifted by 0.45% to $31.14. Santos (STO) added 0.83% to $7.30. Beach Energy (BPT) add 0.82% to $1.54.

Completing a stellar day for the local bourse, the three big Australian iron ore producers have largely brushed off a second consecutive 6% fall iron ore price to $135 p/t. BHP Group (BHP) fell modestly to $45.20 (-0.41%), Rio Tinto (Rio) added 0.22% to $106.98, while Fortescue Mining (FMG) was the best of the three, adding 1.57% to $17.43.

**Prices above are as of 4pm Sydney time.**

Source Tradingview. The figures stated are as of March 16th, 2022. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This report does not contain and is not to be taken as containing any financial product advice or financial product recommendation

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