The Australian stock market is trading higher this morning, following an strong lead from Wall Street – especially the Dow Jones which rebounded and is 58 points away from hitting the 20,000 points mark.
The local share market is tracking 0.25% higher around noon. It’s getting a boost from the Big Four banks (with NAB being the strongest performer out of them so far).
Once again, gold miners are performing strongly, with Newcrest Mining up 2.24%.
The Australian Dollar has also recovered this morning, climbing back closer to the US 73c mark. This was after the US Federal Reserve released its December meeting minutes in the morning. Those minutes show the Fed's support for gradual interest rate hikes in response to inflation which would result out of Donald Trump’s fiscal stimulus measures -- if he follows through and delivers them.
Around noon, the S&P/ASX 200 index was up 19 points to 5,755. On the futures market, the SPI is up 15 points.
Economic newsThe Australian Industry Group has released December figures for its performance of services index, a measure of how the services sector is performing. Last month, the index rose 6.6 points to a reading of 57.7 – its highest monthly result in a decade. Any result above 50 indicates industry expansion.
In addition, all five activity sub-indices experienced gains – particularly sales (which jumped 14 points to a reading of 62.1), and new orders (which increased 6.4 points to 60.4).
Company news360 Capital Industry Fund
(ASX:TIX) has exchanged contracts to sell an industrial property at Villawood NSW for $20 million. These proceeds will be used by the Fund to reduce its debt, and settlement is expected to occur on 17 February 2017. Shares in 360 Capital are trading flat at $2.52.
In December 2016, GTN Ltd
(ASX:GTN) acquired substantially all the assets of an American company, Radiate Media, LLC. Now, Radiate is being sued by the Total Traffic & Weather Network. TTWN alleges Radiate induced its former employee, Michael Haake, who was senior vice president, to breach his TTWN employment contract and prematurely start a new job with Radiate, engaging in ‘wrongful competition’. GTN denies this claim and will defend the proceedings. Shares in GTN are trading 5.78% lower at $2.77.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Energy, gaining almost 1 per cent to 9,202. Shares in Worley Parsons have risen 2.12 per cent and are trading at $10.12. Shares in Oil Search and Whitehaven Coal are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Industrials, losing 0.18 per cent to 5,198. Shares in Macquarie Atlas Roads have lost 2.29 per cent, trading at $4.91. Shares in Cleanaway Waste and Sydney Airport are also lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,169 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7291.
