Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday with investors breathing a sigh of relief, after the former FBI director’s opening remakes were released, and that pushed US stocks back near session highs.
The Australian share market futures are however pointing to a slight fall at the open, after most commodity prices fell including, crude oil, iron ore and gold.
The Dow Jones rose about 35 points, with UnitedHealth and Boeing adding the most gains. Financials led the charge on the S&P 500, while energy stocks fell over 1 per cent after crude inventories surprisingly shot up.The Nasdaq shone and gained almost 0.4 per cent.
Going back to what fueled Wall Street's rally though. Former FBI chief, James Comey’s opening remarks were released by the Senate Intelligence Committee. It left Investors hopeful, that when he makes his first he public speech today in the US, since being fired, that his comments will be less damaging to President Donald Trump than previously thought.
Local economic newsThe ABS will announce the international trade figures for April.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to close at 21,174, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to close at 2,433 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.4 per cent to close at 6,297.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.6 per cent, Paris lost 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt also fell 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.02 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite surged 1.2 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed flat on Wednesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed at 5,667. On the futures market the SPI is 10 points lower.
Company newsInvesta Office Fund
(ASX:IOF) has advised that its Company Secretary has resigned. It comes as Mr Ivan Gorridge resigned from Investa Office Fund’s responsible entity, Investa Listed Funds Management Limited (ILFML) with effect from yesterday 7 June 2017. Investa says Andrew Murray will continue as company secretary of the responsible entity. Shares in Investa Office Fund
(ASX:IOF) last traded 0.64 per cent lower yesterday to $4.65.
To ex-dividendsOne company is going ex-dividend today
OFX Group Limited
(ASX:OFX) is paying 2.9 cents fully franked.
Currencies The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 75.52 cents, 58.28 Pence Sterling, 82.91 Yen and 67.08 Euro cents.
CommoditiesGold has lost $8 to $US1,290 an ounce.
Silver has fallen 13 cents to $US17.58 an ounce.
And Oil has slipped $2.41 to $US45.78 a barrel.
