The Australian share market is set to opne lower this morning, following mixed leads from overseas.
In New York, the Dow Jones finished at its 15th new record high since Donald Trump won the US Presidential Election in early November. However, both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ fell overnight – with the top-performing sector being Energy, while Financials lagged well behind.
Energy shares surged from rising oil prices as both OPEC and non-OPEC countries finally agreed to cut oil production after a protracted year of negotiations.
The Federal Reserve will make its decision on interest rates this week, and a rate hike is widely expected on Thursday morning (AEDT).
Also, there have been concerns about the outlook for China’s property market which led to a sharp sell-off in Chinese shares, and the Yuan fell to an 8 year low.
MarketsWall Street finished mostly lower overnight: The Dow Jones gained 0.2% to close at 19,796, the S&P 500 lost 0.1% to finish at 2,257, while the NASDAQ fell 0.6% to close at 5,413.
European markets finished lower: London’s FTSE lost 0.9%, while Paris and Frankfurt were both down 0.1%.
Asian markets finished mixed: the Nikkei gained 0.8%, the Hang Seng was down 1.4%, while the Shanghai Composite plunged 2.5%.
The Australian share market finished flat yesterday, with the ASX 200 closing 2 points higher at 5,563. This morning, on the futures market the SPI is down 21 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 8.30am is buying $US0.7491, 59.11 Pence, 86.19 Yen and 70.45 Euro cents.
Local economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its house price index figures for the September quarter.
And National Australia Bank will release its monthly business survey for November.
Company newsThe Federal Court of Australia has made orders approving the scheme of arrangement between Fantastic Holdings Ltd
(ASX:FAN) and its shareholders. Under this scheme, Steinhoff Asia Pacific Holdings is expected to acquire all the shares in Fantastic Holdings by tomorrow. Shares in Fantastic Holdings closed 0.29% higher at $3.50.
The Board of CIMIC Group
(ASX:CIM) has approved a proposal to conduct a further on-market share buy-back of up to 10% of the company’s fully paid ordinary shares for a period of 12 months. This buy back will be funded by CIMIC’s existing cash balances and working capital facilities. Shares in CIMIC closed 1.87% higher at $32.66.
CommoditiesGold is up $2.20 to $US1,164 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.17 to $17.14.
Copper has lost 4 cents and is now $2.61.
Oil is gained $1.09 to $53.53 per barrel.
