US arms deal pushes Wall St higher: Aus shares to advance

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

The Australian share market is poised to rise at the open, after Wall Street firmed higher on Monday when the US and Saudi Arabia inked a multi-billion dollar arms deal.

Tech and defense companies rallied, after Trump sealed US$110 billion in deals to help Saudi Arabia counter Iran.

The Dow Jones gained about 90 points with Boeing and innovation company, 3M adding the most gains.

On the S&P 500, information technology led the charge, while the tech heavy Nasdaq shone brightly, rising 50 points or 0.82 per cent.

Meantime, Gold has extended its rally, while Crude Oil has gained 40 cents after Saudi Arabia and Iraq agreed on output cuts.

US economic news

There was no big economic news out the US, but Trump has arrived in Tel Aviv in Israel for a two-day visit.

Local economic news

The RBA Deputy Governor Guy Debelle, will make a speech in Switzerland, called ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Basis”. Although it’s an interesting title, it the speech probably won’t drive markets.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher on Monday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 20,895, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to close at 2,394 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.8 per cent to close at 6,134.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE gained 0.3 per cent, Paris is pretty much flat falling 0.03 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets also closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.9 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.5 per cent.

And back home, the Australian share market closed higher on Monday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 44 points higher or by 0.8 per cent to finish at 5,771. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points higher.

Company news

The National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) says the new major bank tax announced in the Federal Budget, could cost NAB $350 million annually, or $245 million after tax every year. The bank says it strongly objects to the tax and is encouraging a Senate committee to conduct an inquiry into the legislation. NAB is also calling for draft legislation to be released for public consultation. Shares in The National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) last traded 0.07% higher yesterday to $30.40.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 74.75 US cents, 57.52 Pence Sterling, 83.19 Yen and 66.52 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $6.90 to $US1,261 an ounce.
Silver has added 36 cents to $US17.16 an ounce.
And Oil has advanced 37 cents to $US51.04 a barrel.

 

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