Following negative leads, the Australian share market looks set to open lower. US markets were driven lower on Thursday as concerns about Deutsche Bank pushed the stock to an all-time intraday low. Oil continued to advance off the back of the OPEC deal, while the US dollar also made gains.
US economic news
The world’s largest economy expanded by 1.4 percent in the second quarter of 2016, up from 0.8 percent in Q1. On the jobs front, initial jobless claims rose last week by 3000, coming in at 254,000. Q2 corporate profits were down, dropping by 1.9 percent to $1477.1 billion. The surprise reading however in the data were August pending home sales, which slumped by 2.4 percent. Sales were down from a 1.2 percent gain in July and threw off analysts who had expected a flat reading.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.1 per cent to close at 18,143, the S&P 500 dropped 0.9 per cent to close at 2,151 and the NASDAQ fell 0.9 per cent to close at 5,269.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE gained 1.0 per cent, Paris added 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt down 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.4 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 59 points up to finish at 5,471. On the futures market the SPI is 34 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US76.33 cents, 58.87 Pence Sterling, 77.13 Yen and 68.04 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Housing Industry Association are new home sales figures, while the Reserve Bank of Australia will also announce MoM and YoY private sector credit numbers.
Company news
Abacus Property Group
(ASX:ABP) has announced it has exchanged contracts for the sale of a property it purchased in 2013 for $19.55 million. The Victorian property has sold for $51.5 million, with Abacus including a vendor financing deal of 7 percent per annum. The company has indicated the property will yield an equity internal rate of return of over 35% on repayment of the financing deal. Shares in Abacus Property Group closed 0.35 per cent lower yesterday at $2.86.
National Storage REIT
(ASX:NSR) has announced it has entered into arrangements to refinance part of its debt portfolio with AustralianSuper, marginally increasing the all-in cost of debt to the business. The super fund will provide two $50 million tranches of debt with tenors of 8 and 10 years. National Storage intends on using the facility to partially repay existing bank facilities. Shares in National Storage REIT closed 0.62 per cent up yesterday at $1.61.
Commodities
Gold has dropped $0.20 to $US1,324 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.05 to $19.17 for December.
Copper is steady at $2.19 a pound for December.
Oil has risen $0.67 to $US47.72 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
