US tech giants rally: Aus tipped to open flat

Market Reports

by Roma Christian

The Australian share market is tipped to open flat, despite strong leads from US stocks.

Wall Street is still on a high following the Fed’s plans to reduce its balance sheet, which saw the three major indices close higher.

The S&P 500 hit a record close and an intraday high, with the likes of information technology rising 0.8 per cent.

The Nasdaq recorded an intraday high after shares in Netflix, Amazon and Facebook also climbed.

The Dow Jones rose 70 points, closing half a per cent away from its record high.

Local economic news

The Bureau of Statistics will release the 2015/2016 Australian Industry Report, which provides an analysis of the major economic factors affecting Australian industries.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to close at 21,083 the S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent to close at 2,415 and the NASDAQ gained 0.7 per cent to close at 6,205.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE closed flat 0.04 per cent higher, Paris lost 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8 per cent, and China’s Shangai Composite rose 1.4 per cent.

And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 21 points higher or about 0.4 per cent higher to finish at 5,790 points. On the futures market the SPI is 3 points down.

Company news

Medusa Mining Limited (ASX:MML) says the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared Martial Law for the Southern Philippines’ Mindanao Island.
President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement comes after rebel activities have been taking place on the western side of the island. Martial Law places the island under military control, with heightened security protection. Medusa’s Co-O mine is on the island’s east side, and the mining company states it will be monitoring the situation closely and providing updates. Shares in Medusa Mining Limited (ASX:MML) closed 1.56% lower to 31.5 cents.

Ex-dividends

Two companies are going ex-dividend today:

Opus Group Limited (ASX:OPG) is paying 1 cent fully franked.
Whitefield Limited (ASX:WHF) is paying 8.5 cents fully franked.

Currencies

The Australian dollar at 7:30AM was buying 74.56 US cents, 57.62 Pence Stirling, 83.36 Yen and 66.53 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $2.30 to US$1,259 an ounce.

Silver has gained 3 cents to US$17.14.

Oil has lost $2.65 to US$48.71 a barrel for light crude.

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