Australian shares are set to plunge this morning when trading begins at 10am – following very weak leads from US and European equity markets.
Wall Street posted its worst trading day since Donald Trump won the US Presidential election in November last year – with the Dow Jones dropping 238 points in one day.
Most US sectors finished in the red, with Financial stocks being the worst performers due to falling yields. The next worst stocks were Technology, Healthcare and Mining. It seems investors are beginning to question how quickly the Trump administration can implement its pro-growth policies. Investors are also keeping their eyes on Congress – to see whether the Republicans can repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, this Friday.
Over to Europe, Goldman Sachs has confirmed that will shift hundreds of staff out of London, and into Europe, as part of its Brexit contingency plan.
MarketsWall Street finished lower this morning: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1 per cent to close at 20,668. The S&P 500 shed 1.2 per cent to 2,344 and the NASDAQ lost 1.8 per cent to 5,794.
European markets closed lower overnight: London’s FTSE dropped 0.7 per cent, Paris fell 0.2 per cent, and Frankfurt was down 0.75%.
Asian markets closed mixed: the Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent, the Hang Seng rose 0.4 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market finished lower yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 4 points to finish at 5,775. On the futures market the SPI is down 48 points.
Company newsEngineering company Worleyparsons
(ASX:WOR) has been awarded a contract by the Manaseer Group – a holding company in Jordan with business interests in the infrastructure, energy and chemicals space. This contract is for Worleyparsons to provide project management consulting services for a Greenfield integrated potash and phosphate fertilizer complex in Jordan over a 3-year period. Yesterday, shares in Worleyparsons closed flat at $10.40.
Ex-dividendsSeveral companies are going ex-dividend today. They are: Brisbane Broncos, CML Group, Flight Centre, Newcrest Mining, Northern Star Resources, Peet Limited and Spring FG.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US76.93 cents, 61.64 Pence Sterling, 85.98 Yen and 71.17 Euro cents.
CommoditiesGold has gained $11.10 to $US1,245 an ounce.
Silver is up $0.11 to $17.55 an ounce.
Oil is down $0.50 to $US48.41 a barrel.
