The Australian stock market will open higher this morning, thanks to positive leads overseas.
On Wall Street overnight, shares in the energy sector surged, as the price of US crude experienced its biggest gain in seven months. Financials stocks closed flat, but this sector has benefitted the most since Donald Trump was elected as President, upon hopes he will cut down financial regulation.
Technology shares also performed strongly, with companies like Facebook, Netflix and Amazon recovering from losses they sustained since last week’s surprise election result.
US economic newsOvernight, several upbeat pieces of economic data were released. They revealed, last month, that: Retail sales rose 0.8 %, and import prices rose 0.5%.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released its Empire State Manufacturing Index for November. It’s a measure of general business conditions, and it rose 8 points to 1.5 points. This is the first time in four months that the index has managed to climb out of negative territory.
All this positive economic data makes the case for the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in December more likely.
MarketsWall Street finished higher overnight: The Dow Jones gained 0.3 per cent to close at 18,923, the S&P 500 is up 0.75 per cent at 2,180 and the NASDAQ is up 1.1 per cent at 5,276.
European markets finished higher: London’s FTSE and Paris both rose 0.6%, while Frankfurt lifted 0.4%.
Asian markets were mixed: the Nikkei was flat, the Hang Seng was up 0.5%, and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1%.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The ASX 200 closed 20 points lower to finish at 5,326. This morning, on the futures market the SPI has gained 28 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 8:10am was buying $US75.58, 60.69 Pence, 82.55 Yen and 70.5 Euro cents.
Local economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the wage price index figures for the September quarter.
Between the March and June quarters, private sector wages were up by 0.5%, while public sector wages rose 0.6%. This index is a leading indicator of inflation, and we’ll let you know what the latest results are once they’re out.
Company newsAspen Group Ltd
(ASX:APZ) has exchanged contracts to purchase the BIG4 Koala Shores Holiday Park for $10.2 million. Koala Shores is a tourist park which has 142 sites, including 34 tourist cabins, and is located in the Port Stephens region of NSW. This acquisition will be funded from Aspen’s existing cash holdings, and settlement is expected to occur early next year. Shares in Aspen closed steady at $1.05.
Ingenia Communities Group
(ASX:INA) has upgraded its home settlement forecast – increasing it from 150+ to 170+ settlements this financial year. The company says it’s now aiming to achieve over 260 new home settlements for the 2018 financial year. In addition, one of Ingenia’s independent non-executive directors, Norah Barlow, has resigned to take up the role of CEO and Managing Director of Estia Health Ltd, an Australian aged care company. Shares in Ingenia closed 3.38% higher at $2.75.
Ex-dividendsThree companies are going ex-dividend today:
CBG Capital Limited
(ASX:CBC) will pay a dividend of 1.5 cents.
Duluxgroup Limited
(ASX:DLX) will pay 12.5 cents.
Tamawood Limited
(ASX:TWD) will pay 15 cents.
All of those dividends are fully franked.
CommoditiesGold has gained $5.90 to $US1,227 an ounce.
Silver is up $0.17 to $17.07.
Copper is steady at $2.51 a pound.
Oil has gained $2.33 to $46.52 per barrel.
