Following weak leads, the Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning as investors price in a possible interest rate hike by the Fed in June or July of this year. Markets in the US were down at the close of trade on Thursday, with the shift in sentiment coming off the back of the Central Bank’s latest meeting on Wednesday.
US economic news
Jobless claims fell last week to 278,000. It is the 63rd week in a row claims have been below 300,000, the marker generally associated with a healthy jobs market and points to a strengthening US economy.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 per cent to close at 17,435, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to close at 2,040 and the NASDAQ was down 0.6 per cent to close at 4,713.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE was down 1.8 per cent, Paris lost 0.9 per cent and Frankfurt fell 1.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added just 0.01 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.7 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite closed flat.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 33 points down to finish at 5,323. On the futures market the SPI is 6 points down.
Currencies
the Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US72.26 cents, 49.49 Pence Sterling, 79.48 Yen and 64.53 Euro cents.
Company news
Gazal Corporation Limited
(ASX:GZL) has advised it expects its net profit after tax from continuing operations for FY16 will likely be in the range of $7M to $8M, up from $2.4M in FY15.
Net profit after tax for discontinued operations is also expected to be up for the current financial year, with the company forecasting in the range of $41M to 42M. The apparel supplier and retailer has cited the continued strength of the Calvin Klein underwear business and improved trading results from retail channels as contributing to the company’s performance. Shares in Gazal Corporation closed steady at $2.27.
TTG FinTech
(ASX:TUP) has announced it has signed a formal cooperation agreement with Taiwan Boom FinTech, a provider of point of sale cloud systems to Taiwanese banks, telcos and retailers. T
aiwan Boom FinTech will have exclusive rights to distribute and sell TTG’s FinTech solutions in Taiwan. The deal will see Taiwan Boom pay 20 million renminbi to TTG in addition to the transfer of 30 percent of its total capital to the business. Shares in TTG FinTech also closed steady yesterday at $0.15.
Commodities
Gold has dropped $18.70 to $US1,256 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver is down $0.62 to $16.51 for July. Copper has lost $0.01 to $2.07 a pound for July.
Oil is up $0.31 to $US48.77 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
