Monday, June 4, 2012

US jobs gloom, Eurozone fears, China slowdown: investors strap in for a rough ride


This morning's opening dive for the All Ordinaries Index  source: Bloomberg
 Some economic figures come and go with little effect but the jobless statistics out of the US at the weekend have had serious economic ramifications.

The dismal employment outlook in the US is adding to fears that the world could be on the brink of a sharp economic slowdown.

US employers added only 69,000 jobs last month and even the US President says that's not enough.

Australia wasn't able to avoid the fallout from the US, with the All Ordinaries Index diving as much as 1.85 per cent this morning.

Listen to my analysis from this morning's edition of AM.

Last month, the theme was "sell in May and go away."

Now the race could well be in for a new saying in June given the gloomy global outlook.

As a measure of fear, money continues to pour into US Treasury bills (now at their lowest yield in around 200 years) and gold was higher at US$1625 an ounce earlier this morning.

The growing concerns about the US, Europe, China and parts of emerging Asia are likely to combine to prompt a cash rate cut when the Reserve Bank board meets tomorrow.

Some economists are tipping rates to stay on hold at 3.25 percent, but the bets are centering on a 0.25 percentage point cut with JP Morgan revising its cash rate prediction early this morning.

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