The Australian share market is on track for a stronger opening this morning, following positive leads around the world.
Wall Street looks set to post its best day since March, snapping its nine-day losing streak, which has been its longest since December 1980 – when Jimmy Carter was at the very end of his Presidency.
Ttomorrow is a big day as US voters will decide who will be their next President. The US market surged after the FBI concluded its latest investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails and said no criminal prosecution was warranted. Current polls show Clinton still in the lead, and more likely than Donald Trump to win the Oval Office.
The CBOE Volatility Index has fallen 16.2% to around 18.87 points.
US economic newsThe Federal Reserve reported that in September, consumer credit was up more than expected – climbing to $19.3 billion, which means a 6.3% annual rate of growth.
MarketsWall Street performed strongly: The Dow Jones surged 2.1% to 18,260, the S&P 500 was 2.22% higher at 2,132 and the NASDAQ was 2.4% higher at 5,166.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE rose 1.7%, Paris was up 1.9% and Frankfurt gained 1.9%.
Asian markets closed higher as well: the Nikkei was up 1.6%, the Hang Seng gained 0.7%, and the Shanghai Composite was up 0.3%.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 70 points up to finish at 5,251. On the futures market the SPI is up 13 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar has strengthened and is buying $US77.21 cents, 62.27 Pence Sterling, 80.69 Yen and 69.93 Euro cents.
Local economic newsNAB will release the results of its October business confidence survey later today.
Company newsANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ) has shaken up the composition of its senior executive team with the appointment of a new Chief Executive of Technology. ANZ has recruited Gerard Florian, a former executive from technology services firm, Dimension Data. Florian will report directly to the Bank’s CEO, Shayne Elliott, and replace the chief information officer, Scott Collary (who is leaving the Bank later this month). Shares in ANZ closed 0.33% higher at $27.03.
BSA Ltd
(ASX:BSA), a communications and technical services company has been working with Foxtel since 1988. Since then, it has been installing and maintaining satellite services for Foxtel – at residential and commercial sites. As part of a new deal that both companies signed, the initial contract term will expire in 2019, and Foxtel has the option of extending it for another 3 years until 2022. Shares in BSA closed steady at 33 cents.
Ex-dividendsIPE will pay a fully franked dividend of 2.2 cents per share.
Macquarie Group will pay $1.90 per share, 45% franked.
CommoditiesGold has lost $22.80 to $US1,282 an ounce.
Silver has dropped $0.17 to $18.20.
Copper has gained $0.05 to $2.31 a pound.
Oil has risen $0.87 to $US44.94 a barrel.
