The Australian share market will is set to rebound this morning, following positive leads from the US and Europe.
Wall Street finished higher this morning, apparently unfazed by the results of the Italian referendum, which resulted in the resignation of Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi.
In the US, all sectors finished in positive territory – with the biggest gains seen in basic materials, technology and energy sectors. Financials is performing strongly as well on expectations that Donald Trump, as the incoming president of the United States, will relax financial regulations.
US economic newsIHS Markit’s non-manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 54.6 last month. This is the ninth straight month where the services sector has shown expansion.
The Institute of Supply Management’s services index for November jumped to 57.2, which beat the October figure of 54.8.
Based on the results of recent economic data, the chance of the Federal Reserve raising US interest rates this month is over 90%.
MarketsWall Street finished higher overnight: The Dow Jones gained 0.2% to close at 19,216, the S&P 500 was 0.6% higher at 2,205, while the NASDAQ surged 1% to close at 5,309.
European markets finished higher as well: London’s FTSE was up 0.2%, Paris gained 1%, and Frankfurt added 1.6%.
Asian markets were lower: the Nikkei lost 0.8%, the Hang Seng was down 0.3%, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.2%.
The Australian share market finished weaker yesterday, with the ASX 200 closing 44 points lower at 5,400. This morning, on the futures market the SPI is up 51 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 8.25am is buying $US0.747, 58.7 Pence, 85 Yen and 69.41 Euro cents.
Local economic newsThe Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release its monetary policy statement this afternoon. It’s widely expected that the RBA will keep the official cash rate at the record low 1.5%. We’ll update you on this as soon as we hear something.
Company newsTelstra Corporation Ltd
(ASX:TLS) has announced a new appointment to its senior executive team. Australia's largest telco says it has hired Robyn Denholm as its new chief operations officer. Shares in Telstra closed 0.81% lower at $4.91.
Eureka Group Holdings Ltd
(ASX:EGH) has acquired its 27th freehold retirement village -- a 51-unit village in south east Queensland, for which it aid $3.2 million. This village is expected to generate annual EBITDA of approximately $400,000. Shares in Eureka last traded at $0.72.
Ex-dividendsTwo companies are going ex-dividend today:
Dicker Data Limited
(ASX:DDR), will pay a fully franked dividend of 3.85 cents per share.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare
(ASX:FPH) will pay an unfranked dividend of 7.84 cents per share.
CommoditiesGold is down $5.50 to $US1,172 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.01 to $16.82.
Copper is flat at $2.69.
Oil is down $0.64 to US$51.04 per barrel.
