Outlook: Aus shares set to open lower again

Following weak leads, the Australian share market looks set to open lower again.

Yesterday, Wall Street fell for a fourth straight session. What contributed to this dour mood are oil prices continuing to fall, fears the UK may leave the European Union at its referendum next week, and the Federal Reserve holding its two-day meeting to discuss whether and when to increase interest rates.

US economic news

The Census Bureau has released its latest retail sales data. US retail sales rose 0.5% in May, after soaring by 1.3% in April. This was a better than expected result, with an increase in car sales – despite the slowdown in job creation.

Also, US import prices rose by 1.4 percent last month. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates this is the largest import price increase in over 4 years.

Markets

Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 per cent to close at 17,675, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to close at 2,075 and the NASDAQ lost 0.1 per cent to close at 4,844.

European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 2 per cent, Paris lost 2.3 per cent and Frankfurt lost 1.4 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 per cent.

The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 109 points down to finish at 5,203. On the futures market the SPI is down 9 points.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US0.7349, 52.14 Pence Sterling, 77.89 Yen and 65.60 Euro cents.

Economic news

Due out today from Westpac is its monthly Consumer Sentiment report.

Company news

Primary Healthcare Limited (ASX:PRY) has agreed to sell its private health insurance business, Transport Health for $27 million. The company will sell that part of its business to Railway and Transport Health Fund Limited.

Shares in Primary Healthcare closed 4.55 per cent lower yesterday at $3.78.

ALE Property Group (ASX:LEP) has reassessed the value of the 86 properties in its portfolio. The company says its properties will are now worth around $990 million, which is a 10% increase compared to the previous year.

Shares in ALE closed 0.67 per cent lower yesterday at $4.42.

Commodities
Gold has gained $1.60 to $US1,289 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver is down $0.05 to $17.39 for July.
Copper is down $0.01 to $2.04 a pound for July.
Oil is down $1.05 to $US48.47 a barrel for July light crude in New York.