The Australian share market looks set to rebound this morning, following the local index’s sharp fall in yesterday’s trading.
Wall Street will provide a strong lead as the Dow Jones finally managed to break a 7-day losing streak, with shares in the financial and energy sectors leading the charge.
The price of crude oil also bounced back. Yesterday morning, it was trading around US$39 mark. However, it has surged past $US41 overnight.
US economic newsThe US government released data which showed crude oil inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels last week. This was larger than expected because analysts were actually expecting inventories to fall by that amount.
However, the data showed that there was a much higher-than-expected drawdown in gasoline inventory. Gasoline stocks fell by 3.3 million barrels (keeping in mind, it was forecast that gasoline would drop by 200,000 barrels). The gasoline drawdown helped offset the surprise surge in crude stockpiles.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to close at 18,355, the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to close at 2,164 and the NASDAQ was up 0.4 per cent to close at 5,160.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE was down 0.2 per cent, Paris lost 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Nikkei lost 1.9 per cent, Hang Seng was down 1.8 percent, and Shanghai Composite was up 0.2 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The ASX 200 Index closed 75 points down to finish at 5,466. On the futures market the SPI is up 27 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US75.89 cents, 56.95 Pence Sterling, 76.81 Yen and 68.06 Euro cents.
Australian economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics will release retail sales data for June 2016 later today.
Company newsIMF Bentham Ltd
(ASX:IMF) says that an Australian court case it funded has settled. This case was a dispute over a deceased estate, with the beneficiaries being 5 charities. IMF says it is expecting a before tax profit of $600,000 from this settlement – which will be recognized in the 2017 financial year.
Shares in IMF Bentham are trading 1.59% higher at $1.60.
The Board of the Brisbane Broncos Ltd
(ASX:BBL) have announced a before tax profit of around $3.1 million, for the half year ended 30 June 2016. This is an increase from last year, where its before tax profit was around $2.5 million. The Broncos’ board says that negotiations are currently underway between the NRL and the 16 NRL clubs to enter into a new club licence agreement – the outcome of which may affect the Broncos’ current full year result.
Shares in Brisbane Broncos are trading steady at 35 cents.
CommoditiesGold has lost $7.90 to $US1,365 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has lost $0.23 to $20.47 for September.
Copper has lost $0.01 to $2.20 a pound for September.
Oil has gained $1.66 to $US41.17 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
