Tech helps Wall Street losses: Aus shares to open slightly lower

Market Reports

by Roma Christian

The Australian share market is poised to open slightly lower, after Wall Street saw falls following key economic data releases.

The S&P 500 fell on the back of the energy and financial sectors, with JPMorgan falling 1.7 per cent and Bank of America falling 1.4 per cent, as the two biggest drags.

Losses were helped by gains in the tech sector, with shares in Amazon briefly crossing the $US1000 mark for the first time, and Apple and Microsoft both rising by 0.6 per cent.

The Dow Jones fell about 50 points, with Goldman Sachs offering the most losses.

US economic news

The Department of Commerce has reported that personal income increased 0.4 per cent in April, matching economists’ estimates. Consumer spending rose 0.4 per cent in April, following a 0.3 per cent gain in March, which is also the largest increase in 4 months.

New data from the S&P/Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index showed that home prices increased 5.8 per cent in March, which was slightly less than the 5.9 per cent expected. The national home price index shows that gains have reached a 33 month high, rising at the strongest rate in 3 years.

The US Conference Board has reported that consumer confidence fell to 117.9 in May, which exceeds economists’ expectations of 119.8. This comes following a reading of 120.3 in April.

Local economic news

The Reserve Bank will release data on private sector credit levels for April. CommSec says annual credit growth will likely stay near 5 per cent, keeping near 3-year lows.

Markets

Wall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 0.2 per cent to close at 21,029, the S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent to close at 2,413 and the NASDAQ lost 0.1 per cent to close at 6,203.

European markets closed weaker: London’s FTSE fell 0.3 per cent, Paris lost 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt dipped 0.2 per cent.

To Asian markets: Tokyo’s Nikkei closed flat, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite closed for a Public Holiday.

And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 11 points up to finish at 5,718. On the futures market, the SPI is 4 points down.

Company news

Nuheara Limited (ASX:NUH) says it has now completed shipping of about 6,000 (non-retail) pre-orders, for its augmented hearing and hands-free smartphone connectivity device, IQbuds™. The audio wearables company says since their January launch, it has shipped pre-orders of about $2 million worth of IQbuds™, to over 80 countries, at an average selling price of AUD$307. The company says it now has a presence in-store and online, with retail distribution channels including Best Buy, Amazon, Brookstone and Frys. Shares in Nuheara Limited (ASX:NUH) closed 3.8% lower to 7.6 cents.

Ex-dividends

One company is going ex-dividend today:

Orica Limited (ASX:ORI) is paying 23.5 cents 12.76 per cent franked.

Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 7.30AM was buying 74.64 US cents, 58.18 Pence Stirling, 82.75 Yen and 66.73 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost $4.60 to $US1,266 an ounce.
Silver lost 1 cent to $US17.39 an ounce.
Oil has lost 35 cents to $US49.65 a barrel.


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