UK heading for Hard Brexit: ASX to open lower

The Australian share market will open lower today following weak leads from overseas.

This morning, US equities fell, with financials falling 2 percent, and the sector with the most losses. Investors are starting to feel increasingly uncertain about what President-elect Donald Trump’s specific policies will actually be ahead of his inauguration this Friday, 20 January 2017.

Adding pressure to Wall Street and the European stock market, was a speech given by British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday.  Mrs May confirmed that the UK is positioning itself for a clean break from the European Union, leaving the single market.  The British PM will also put the eventual Brexit deal to a vote before other MPs in the British parliament, retreating from her previous position on this issue. Overnight, the British Pound rose 1.87% against the Aussie Dollar.

Markets

Wall Street finished lower this morning: The Dow Jones lost 0.3 per cent to close at 19,827, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 per cent to close at 2,268 and the NASDAQ was down 0.6 per cent to close at 5,539.

European markets also closed lower: London’s FTSE fell almost 1.5 per cent, Paris lost nearly 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt dropped 0.1 per cent.

Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei slid 1.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.2 per cent.

The Australian share market finished lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 49 points down to finish at 5,699. On the futures market the SPI is 9 points down.

Company news

Australian miner, Base Resources (ASX:BSE) says it plans to start exploratory drilling in Tanzania during the first of this year. The company will also conduct drilling to determine whether the life of its Kenyan titanium mine, worth $305 million, can be extended. This project is the largest mining investment in Kenya and has roughly eight years left. Yesterday, shares in Base Resources were trading steady at 24 cents.

Ex-dividends

Two companies are going ex-dividend today:

Countplus Limited (ASX:CUP) will pay 2 cents, fully franked.
Euroz Limited (ASX:EZL) will pay 1.75 cents, fully franked.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 8:25AM was buying $US0.7566, 61 Pence Sterling, 85.28 Yen and 70.68 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $12.10 to $US1,215 an ounce.
Silver has gained 38 cents to $17.20 an ounce.
Oil has gained 17 cents to $US53.32 a barrel.