The Australian share market will be trading higher this morning when the ASX opens for business. At the start of this trading week, Wall Street finally snapped its nine-day losing streak, which was its longest since 1980. This positive momentum has continued, with the latest polls showing that the next US president is more likely to be Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump.
However, today is the big day – with millions of Americans lining up to vote. And it could be a close one – depending on how the presidential candidates perform in the swing states. But we should know the results by the end of today.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which measures fear in the US market, fell 1%, and is trading near 18.5 points. And as a sign of that investors are feeling less anxious about the US election, the price of the safe haven asset, gold, has fallen by around $25 since the start of this week.
US economic newsThe Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey results for September. During that month, the number of American job openings rose slightly, with companies hiring 5.49 million workers. Meanwhile, 3.1 million Americans quit their jobs, with the quit rate remaining stable at 2.1%.
MarketsWall Street is performing well: The Dow Jones gained 0.4% to 18,332, the S&P 500 was 0.4% higher at 2,140 and the NASDAQ was up 0.5% at 5,193.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE rose 0.5%, Paris was up 0.4% and Frankfurt gained 0.2%.
Asian markets closed mixed: the Nikkei was flat, while the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite both gained 0.5%.
The Australian share market closed flat yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 7 points up to finish at 5,258. On the futures market the SPI is up 24 points.
CurrenciesThe Auistralian Dollar has strengthened and is buying $US77.77 cents, 62.89 Pence Sterling, 81.79 Yen and 70.63 Euro cents.
Local economic newsThe Westpac-Melbourne Institute will release its Consumer Sentiment Index for the month of November. In October, consumer sentiment rose by 1.1%, and we’ll see later today whether that positivity still continues this month.
Company newsThe New Zealand Commerce Commission has issued a draft determination, saying that it intends to decline the proposed merger between Fairfax New Zealand and NZME Ltd
(ASX:NZM). The Commission says the merger of New Zealand’s two largest media companies would substantially lessen competition for digital and online advertising. The Commission is still seeking submissions until 22 November, and will make its final decision, on whether to approve or block the merger, by 15 March 2017. Shares in NZME have plummeted by 25.98% to 47 cents as a result of this preliminary decision.
Medical diagnostics company, Sonic Healthcare Ltd
(ASX:SHL), has signed a deal to increase its stake in German company, GLP Systems Gmbh, from 25% to 80%. The remaining 20% will be held by GLP’s CEO, who will continue to lead the company. Sonic Healthcare says that GLP has developed a cutting-edge laboratory automation technology which has reached the stage of international commercialisation. The transaction is subject to antitrust approval and is expected to complete in December. Shares in Sonic Healthcare last traded 0.74% lower at $21.41.
Ex-dividendsBrickworks will pay a fully franked dividend of 32 cents per share.
Resmed will pay an unfranked dividend of 3.03 cents per share.
CommoditiesGold has lost $4 to $US1,275 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.18 to $18.34.
Copper has gained $0.07 to $2.38 a pound.
Oil has fallen $0.04 to $US44.87 a barrel.
