It looks like the Australian share market will open lower this morning, following a weak lead from the US. Yesterday on Wall Street, half the 10 industry sectors posted losses. The Energy sector was one of the biggest drags on the market due to a fall in oil prices overnight.
Also, investors may be a bit on edge because the British will hit the polls later today to decide whether or not they wish to remain in the European Union.
US economic newsCrude oil inventories fell by 917,000 barrels for the week ended 17 June. This was a smaller than expected decline, but still led to oil prices dropping overnight.
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 per cent to close at 17,781, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to close at 2,085 and the NASDAQ fell by 0.2 per cent to close at 4,833.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE gained 0.6 per cent, Paris rose 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt lifted 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: the Nikkei lost 0.6 per cent, the Hang Seng was up 0.6 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.9 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The ASX 200 closed 3 points down to finish at 5,271. On the futures market the SPI is down 16 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US75.13 cents, 50.95 Pence Sterling, 78.61 Yen and 66.41 Euro cents.
Company newsIMF Bentham Ltd
(ASX:IMF) has filed a law suit against Volkwagen in the courts of Germany. IMF filed the action on behalf of certain Volkwagen shareholders. It relates to Volkwagen allegedly misleading the market over a long period of time by installing ‘defeat device’ software in its cars to cheat carbon emissions tests.
Shares in IMF closed 1.76% higher at $1.45.
Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd
(ASX:NEU) has been granted a patent in Australia covering the use of trofinetide. This is a new drug that it’s developing to treat a range of Autism spectrum disorders.
Shares in Neuren closed 6% higher at 5.3 cents.
CommoditiesGold has dropped 70 cents to $US1,270 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.03 to $17.37 for July.
Copper is up 1 cent to $2.14 cents a pound for July.
Oil is down $1.11 to $US49.13 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
