Trump withdraws US from TPP: ASX to open higher

Market Reports

by David Chau

The Australian share market will open higher today, bolstered by a weaker US Dollar.

The local market is also expected to shrug off weak leads from overseas. On Wall Street, Basic Materials and Healthcare were the top performing sectors, while Energy, by far, sustained the biggest losses.

There was a sell-off in US and European markets as investors are becoming increasingly concerned over the uncertainty about what the specifics of US President Donald Trump’s policies will be.

Also, President Trump has signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – in line with his protectionist agenda to put “America First”.

Markets

Wall Street finished mostly lower this morning: The Dow Jones lost 0.1 per cent to 19,800, the S&P 500 retreated 0.3 per cent to 2,265 and the NASDAQ was flat at 5,553.

European markets finished lower: London’s FTSE was down 0.7 per cent, Paris slipped 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.7 per cent.

Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose almost 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.4 per cent.

The Australian share market finished lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 44 points to finish at 5,611. On the futures market the SPI is 18 points higher.

Company news

Pinnacle Investment Management Group (ASX:PNI) will make an off-market takeover bid to acquire all the shares in Hunter Hall International Ltd (ASX:HHL). Pinnacle has proposed to pay $1.50 per Hunter Hall share, representing a 50% premium over the earlier offer made by Washington H. Soul Pattinson in late-December. Pinnacle also says it will raise its offer to $2 per share if it wins control over Hunter Hall. Yesterday, shares in Pinnacle closed 0.82% lower at $2.43.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 8:40AM was buying $US0.7588, 60.6 Pence Sterling, 85.54 Yen and 70.51 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $12.70 to $US1,218 an ounce.
Silver has risen 20 cents to $17.23 an ounce.
Oil has fallen $0.37 to $US52.85 a barrel.

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