Positivity returns to Wall Street: ASX to open higher

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

The Australian share market will open higher this morning, following positive leads from US equity markets.

The major indexes Street managed to finish in positive territory despite US markets fluctuating wildly following President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference since winning the US election in November 2016.

The Nasdaq ended the day with another record high. Basic materials and Energy were the best performing sectors. However, Healthcare was the worst performer, following comments made by Trump during his press conference about pharmaceutical companies "getting away with murder" by charging high drug prices.

Markets

Wall Street finished higher this morning: The Dow Jones rose 0.5% to close at 19,954, the S&P 500 was up 0.3% at 2,275, while the NASDAQ rose 0.2% to close at 5,564.

European markets finished higher: London’s FTSE was up 0.2%, Paris was flat, while Frankfurt gained 0.5%.

Asian markets were mixed: the Nikkei gained 0.3%, the Hang Seng was up 0.8%, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.8%.

The Australian share market finished stronger yesterday, with the ASX 200 closing 11 points higher at 5,771. This morning, on the futures market the SPI is up 17 points.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 8.30am is buying 74.5 US cents, 61.01 Pence, 85.92 Yen and 70.40 Euro cents.

Company news

Exploration company, Hexagon Resources Limited (ASX: HXG), has completed the sale of its subsidiary business, which holds its South Korean graphite assets. The subsidiary, Opirus Minerals Pty Ltd, has been sold to Battery Minerals Resources Limited (BMR) for $1 million in cash and two million Battery Minerals shares. Hexagon Resources says the funds will be applied to its McIntosh graphite project in Western Australia. Yesterday, shares in Hexago closed 1.89% lower at 26 cents.

Ex-dividends

One company is going ex-dividend today. Tegel Group Holdings will pay an unfranked dividend of 3.32 cents

Commodities

Gold is up $6.50 to $US1,192 an ounce.
Silver lost 6 cents to $16.79 an ounce
Copper is 1 cent lower at $2.60 a pound.
Oil rose $1.46 to US$53.16 per barrel.

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