The Australian share market looks set to open flat at the open following Wall Street’s mostly steady close after President Donald Trump unveiled planned tax cuts.
The S&P 500 flirted with an all time high after the Trump administration said it would slash the corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent, making it the biggest tax cut in American history.
The Dow Jones climbed over 74 points but failed to maintain the high, with some analysts saying the tax drop could lead to trillion dollars of debt.
Local economic news The ABS will announce the export and import prices for the March quarter, while the Housing Industry Association & CoreLogic release their Residential Land Report for the December Quarter.
Markets Wall Street closed mostly flat: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 20,975 the S&P 500 lost 0.05 per cent to close at 2,387 and the NASDAQ closed flat at 6,025.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 0.2 per cent, Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt advanced 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.2 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 40 points up to finish at 5,912. On the futures market the SPI is just 1 point lower.
Company newsTlou Energy Limited
(ASX:TOU) has announced it has completed a Share Purchase Plan and placements totaling $6.7 million. The company which focuses on delivering power in Botswana and South Africa will use the funds to undertake additional field appraisals to expand its gas reserves. Tlou also plans to use the proceeds for its gas resource project, The Lesedi CMB Project. Shares in Tlou Energy Limited
(ASX:TOU) closed 4.17% lower yesterday to 11.5 cents.
Ex-dividendsFour companies are going ex-dividend today:
Aurora Dividend Income
(ASX:AOD) is paying 0.35 cents fully franked,
Premier Investments
(ASX:PMV) is paying 26 cents fully franked,
Steamships Trading
(ASX:SST) is paying 11.93 cents fully franked and
Wohne Multimedia
(ASX:WMC) is paying 0.59 cents fully franked.
Currencies The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 74.73 US cents, 58.19 Pence Sterling, 83.02 Yen and 68.54 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $6.00 to $US1,271 an ounce.
Silver has lost 12 cents to $US17.54
Oil has lost 16 cents to $US49.21 a barrel
