US stocks continued their horror slide sending the Dow and S&P 500 over 6 per cent lower to the worst ever start to a new trading year. The Nasdaq is down over 7 per cent for the first five trading days.
Continued concerns over the China slowdown and plunging oil prices plus the negative lead from Wall Street are combining to point to the local stock market well below the 5000 mark.
Markets
Wall Street closed deep in the red on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1 per cent to close at 16,346, the S&P 500 shed 1.1 per cent to close at 1,922 and the NASDAQ lost 1 per cent to close at 4,644.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE slipped 0.7 per cent, Paris retreated 1.6 per cent and Frankfurt ended 1.3 per cent weaker.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 2 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower on Friday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 20 points down to finish at 4,991 to be 305 points down on the week. On the futures market the SPI is 80 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 69.69 US cents, 48 Pence Sterling, 81.8 Yen and 63.81 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the ANZ are job advertisements for December.
Company news
Origin Energy Limited
(ASX:ORG) is looking to offload five major assets as part of its $800 million divestment program. Major pipelines, a power terminal station and two wind farms are expected to go under the hammer by the end of the financial year. Funds raised will go to lowering debt as the company continues to shore up its balance sheet. Shares in Origin Energy closed 2.07 higher on Friday at $4.44.
And one winner from the tumbling commodity prices is Qantas Airways Limited
(ASX:QAN). The airline has seen a 28 per cent drop in the jet fuel price since October which could bring $110 million in savings to the company. Half year results are due in February. Shares in Qantas last traded 0.49% lower at $4.06.
Commodities
Gold has tumbled $3.70 to US$1,104 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver has slipped 42 cents to $13.93 for March. Copper is down 1 cent to $2.02 a pound. Oil has dipped $0.39 to US$32.88 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
