Following negative leads, the Australian share market looks set to open lower. Positive jobs data released on Friday simply wasn’t enough to rally investors, with all three indexes slumping over the week. Election fears are paralyzing markets, as participants speculate over how a Trump verses Clinton win will impact share prices. With over 37 million Americans having already headed to the polls in early voting, final results will start to become clear after voting day on Tuesday.
US economic newsIt was mainly positive news on the jobs front in October. Data out on Friday indicated 161,000 new jobs were added into the U.S. economy in October. The unemployment rate shed 0.1 percentage point, coming in at 4.9 percent and average hourly earnings trended upward, increasing by 0.4 percent on the prior month. The US trade deficit also improved, shrinking 9.9 percent on September’s number to $36.44 billion.
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to close at 17,888, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent to close at 2,085 and the NASDAQ dropped 0.2 per cent to close at 5,046.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE tumbled 1.4 per cent, Paris shed 0.8 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower on Friday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 45 points down to finish at 5,181. The market was down 103 points on the week. On the futures market the SPI is 29 points down.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US76.79 cents, 61.37 Pence Sterling, 79.43 Yen and 69.09 Euro cents.
Economic news Due out today from the AIG Industry Group is October’s Construction Index. ANZ Banking Group will also released Job Advertisement figures for October.
Company newsSaracen Mineral Holdings Limited
(ASX:SAR) has announced it has secured a $150 million financing facility with an international banking syndicate. The facility is a senior secured revolving loan with an initial term of three years, and includes the option to extend. The funds from the facility will be combined with existing cash reserves to fund future growth opportunities. Shares in Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited closed 2.33 per cent up on Friday at $1.32.
Atrum Coal NL
(ASX:ATU) has announced it has formed a joint venture with Atlantic Carbon Group to market and sell anthracite from Atlantic’s operations out of north eastern Pennsylvania in the U.S. The venture will be staffed by Atrum personnel and will look to shift 250,000 tonnes of anthracite by the end of 2017. Profits from the venture will be split 60 percent to Atrum and 40 percent to Atlantic Carbon Group. Shares in Atrum Coal NL last traded at $0.77, after going into a voluntary suspension on the 31st of October, and will recommence trading today.
Ex-dividends1 company is going ex-dividend today: Bisalloy Steel Group Limited
(ASX:BIS) will pay 2.5 cents fully franked.
Commodities
Gold has gained $1.90 to $US1,305 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has added $0.01 to $18.43 for December.
Copper has risen $0.01 to $2.26 a pound for December.
Oil has lost $0.54 to $US44.13 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
