When trading commences at the ASX this morning, Australian shares will probably open lower.
In the past week, all three Wall Street indexes finished with record highs – twice! However, that changed overnight, as the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all finished lower. So this morning, US markets will be providing us with a weak lead.
Currently, US investors are jittery because the Federal Reserve will be releasing its July meeting minutes tomorrow. Also, New York Fed President, William Dudley, has publicly stated that it’s “possible” US interest rates could rise next month.
Meanwhile, the price of crude oil just continues to climb. There’s been speculation that, at next month’s OPEC meeting, it might result in an agreement to freeze oil output.
Economic newsThe consumer price index was flat in July, following two straight monthly increases of 0.2 percent. This result matched the relatively low expectations of economists, and the Labor Department said is the weakest CPI result since February.
On the other hand, building activity surprisingly increased in July. US housing starts rose to 1.21 million, beating the estimate of 1.18 million. It certainly seems like residential building is rebounding.
MarketsWall Street finished lower on Tuesday: The Dow Jones lost 0.5% to close at 18,552, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to close at 2,178 and the NASDAQ was down 0.7% to close at 5,227.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE was down 0.7%, Paris lost 0.8% and Frankfurt slipped 0.6%.
Asian markets were down as well: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1%, and the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.5%.
As for the Australian share market, it finished weaker yesterday: The ASX 200 closed 8 points down to finish at 5,532. And this morning, on the futures market, the SPI is down 6 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US76.98 cents, 59.02 Pence, 77.2 Yen and 68.26 Euro cents.
Local economic newsLater today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its Wage Price Index for the June quarter. These results will reveal whether there has been any change in what businesses are paying their workers.
Earnings seasonA number of companies will release their financial results today -- including CSL, QBE, and Stockland.
Company newsThe world’s largest mining company, BHP Billiton Ltd
(ASX:BHP), has posted the worst earnings result in its corporate history. BHP reported an $8.3 billion loss due to significant one-off write downs. For example, the company slashed the value of its US shale assets (in the order of $4.9 billion). There are also court cases pending against BHP for its role in the the Samarco iron ore disaster which polluted a major river, killed 19 people and left hundreds of people in Brazil homeless. And the company has also been hit hard by the slump in commodities prices.
Despite that, shares in BHP last traded 0.45% higher at $20.25.
Funeral and cremations business, InvoCare Ltd
(ASX:IVC), also released its financial results. The company posted a 50% rise in half-year profit, despite a lower number of deaths than expected. InvoCare’s interim net profit was $27.8 million. The company also declared an interim dividend of 17 cents per share.
Shares in Invocare last traded 4.25% lower at $13.97.
Ex-dividendsFour companies are going ex-dividend today -- Commonwealth Bank, Downer EDI, Magellan Financial Group and ResMed.
CommoditiesGold has gained $9.40 to $US1,357 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver is up $0.03 to $19.87 for September.
Copper is up $0.02 to $2.18 a pound for September.
Oil has gained $0.82 to $US47.22 a barrel for September light crude.
