The Australian share market looks set for a mediocre open after Wall St ended the day mixed. While the Dow continued to trail blaze its way to a tenth consecutive record close, the NASDAQ felt the impact of losses in the tech sector, ending the day in the red. The prospect of tax reform from the Trump administration continues to drive much of the market rally, with Treasurer Steve Mnuchin reaffirming this stance yesterday in the media.
US economic newsInitial jobless claims rose by 6000 last week, coming in at 244,000 and marking the third straight week of gains. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has also reported a 6.2 percent jump in its house price index for December, compared to the same period last year.
MarketsWall Street finished mixed this morning: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2% higher at 20,810 points. The S&P 500 ended the day flat at 2,364 and the NASDAQ shed 0.4 per cent to 5,836.
European markets finished lower yesterday: London’s FTSE fell 0.4 per cent, Paris dropped 0.1 per cent, and Frankfurt slipped 0.4 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: the Nikkei was flat, the Hang Seng tumbled 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 20 points to finish at 5,785. On the futures market the SPI is currently 9 points down.
Company newsOceanaGold Corporation
(ASX:OGC) has announced its full year 2016 results, achieving a record revenue of $628.6M. The company’s full year profit also entered record making territory, rising 157% to $136.5 million. Yesterday afternoon, before the release of its results, OceanaGold shares closed 0.75% lower at $3.95.
Reporting seasonSeveral companies are reporting their results today. They include: Automotive Holdings Group
(ASX:AHG), Charter Hall Group
(ASX:CHC), Cromwell Property Group
(ASX:CMW), Mayne Pharma Group
(ASX:MYX), NextDC
(ASX:NXT), Regis Healthcare
(ASX:REG) and Super Retail Group
(ASX:SUL).
Ex-dividends
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US77.18 cents, 61.49 Pence Sterling, 86.97 Yen and 72.95 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $12.00 to $US1,250 an ounce.
Silver is up $0.22 to $18.24 an ounce.
Oil Light crude is up $0.78 to $US54.37 a barrel.
