Following positive leads, the Australian share market looks set to open higher. Tech stocks led the way overnight in the U.S., with Apple continuing to rally off the back of strong iPhone 7 sales reports. Lukewarm economic data on both industrial production and retail sales had investors discounting the possibility of a rate-hike, however continued volatility is likely until the Fed meets next week.
US economic news
Industrial Production data for August dropped by 0.4%, slightly worse than market expectations of a 0.3 percent decline. Retail Sales for August also took a dip for the month, down 0.3 percent from July. Initial Jobless Claims were also slightly up for the week ending September 10th, coming in at 260,000.
Markets
Wall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 1 per cent to close at 18,212, the S&P 500 added 1 per cent to close at 2,147 and the NASDAQ lifted 1.5 per cent to close at 5,250.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE rose 0.9 per cent, Paris gained 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite was closed yesterday.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 12 points up to finish at 5,240. On the futures market the SPI is 33 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US75.17 cents, 56.78 Pence Sterling, 76.76 Yen and 66.88 Euro cents.
Company news
Pilbara Minerals Limited
(ASX:PLS) has announced it has issued a new sale notice to Mineral Resources Limited and Global Advanced Metals Wodgina in relation to its lithium offtake agreement with Chinese firm General Lithium. The issuance is related to first right of refusal rights Mineral Resources has on any Pilbara products, with the company now having 45 days in which to exercise.
Shares in Pilbara Minerals closed steady yesterday at $0.55.
BPS Technology Limited
(ASX:BPS) has announced its acquisition of shares in both the Australian and New Zealand arm of Entertainment Publications is now complete. Entertainment Publications is a B2C deals platform that provides restaurant, accommodation and activity guides with special offers to over 12,000 SMEs across Australia and New Zealand.
Shares in BPS Technology closed 0.86 per cent lower yesterday at almost $0.92.
Ex-dividends
Two companies are going ex-dividend today: Pacific Star Network will pay 1.05c fully franked and Southern Cross Electrical Engineers will pay 1.35 cents, also fully franked.
Commodities
Gold has fallen $8.10 to $US1318 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has dropped $0.02 to $19.04 for December.
Copper is steady at $2.16 a pound for December.
Oil has gained $0.37 to $US44.52 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
