Wall Street market closed mixed yesterday as US investors kept a lookout for the next interest rate rise – forecast to be later this month. Seven out of the 10 major S&P sectors closed lower, and the Nasdaq was the only US index which finished day in the green. The sectors which had the most declines were energy, materials and consumer staples.
Following this mixed lead, the Australian market looks set to open slightly lower.
US economic newsThe US Census Bureau has released its latest construction spending figures. Construction spending rose by 0.3 percent which is an 8.5 year high, indicating sustained strength in the construction sector.
MarketsWall Street closed up on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 per cent to close at 17,787, the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent to close at 2,097 and the NASDAQ was up 0.3 per cent to close at 4,948.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 0.6 per cent, Paris lost 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt was down 0.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained almost 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.9 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 3.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 29 points down to finish at 5,379. On the futures market the SPI is down 24 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US0.7234 cents, 50 Pence Sterling, 80.08 Yen and 65.02 Euro cents.
Economic newsThe ABS will release its latest monthly retail sales figures later today.
Company newsMigme Limited
(ASX:MIG), a digital media company based in Singapore, has launched a new mobile client on the Android operating system. Migme’s CEO, Steven Goh says the launch of the new mobile client is a big milestone for his company, and help developers of mobile games and apps acquire and maintain new users.
Shares in Migme traded 8.8% higher yesterday at $0.62.
WPG Resource Ltd
(ASX:WPG) has announced that the Challenger gold mine in South Australia has resumed production. Activities at Challenger were temporarily suspended by the mine’s former owner, Kingsgate Consolidated Limited, in March 2016.
Shares in WPG traded 1.22% higher at $0.083 yesterday.
Ex-dividends4 companies are going ex-dividend today – Aristocrat Leisure, CSR, Infratil and Technology One.
CommoditiesGold has gained $0.80 to $US1,218 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has lost $0.27 to $15.99 for July.
Copper lost $0.02 to $2.10 a pound.
Oil has lost $0.23 to $US49.10 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
