Wall Street has closed lower as the US Senate delayed a health care vote, while large-cap technology stocks were sold off, triggering the tech space to fall over 1 per cent. Because of that, the Australian share market is poised to slightly dip at the open.
On the political front, US investors seemed somewhat concerned the healthcare legislation encountered some headwinds. It comes after the US Sentate Republican leader decided to put off the vote on the bill, which is aimed at repealing and replacing Obamacare, until after 4 July.
The Dow Jones fell almost 100 points with 3M and Apple leading the decliners, while the tech heavy Nasdaq dropped over 1.6 per cent as shares in Alphabet, which is the parent of Google, fell more than 2 per cent. Other tech giants like Facebook, Netflix and Amazon followed, closing over 1.5 per cent down.
US economic newsUS home prices have increased by 5.5 per cent in April, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller index, which missed the 5.9 per cent mark expected.
Meanwhile, the widely tracked 20-city home price index rose 5.7 per cent over 12 months to April 2017. It follows the yearly gain of 5.9 per cent reported in March, which was the sharpest rise since 2014.
In other US economic news, US consumer confidence rose to a near 16 year high. The Conference Board reported confidence rose to 118.9 in June, which was much better than the expected slight drop to 116.
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Tuesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5 per cent to close at 21,311, the S&P 500 slipped 0.8 per cent to close at 2,419 and the NASDAQ lost 1.6 per cent to close at 6,147.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.2 per cent, Paris lost 0.7 per cent and Frankfurt dipped 0.8 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.2 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed lower on Tuesday: At the closing bell, The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 6 points down or 0.1 per cent to finish at 5,714. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points lower.
Company news1300SMILES
(ASX:ONT) has acquired two orthodontist practices, known as Family Care Orthodontists in Chatswood and Bathurst in New South Wales. The dental facility owner and operator says the acquired practices, which settle at the end of this month (30 June 2017) will produce over $2 million in revenue.The company says the purchases will also make an immediate positive contribution to Net Profit, EBITDA, and earnings per share. Interestingly, the multi-chair practice in Chatwood, was originally owned by Dr Dick Abbott, the father of Tony Abbott. But after Dr Abbott, retired in 2001, the now owner, (Dr John Coolican) took over the helm. The outgoing owner also established the Bathurst practice in 1989. Shares in 1300SMILES
(ASX:ONT) last traded 0.62 per cent lower to $6.36.
Currencies The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 75.84 US cents, 59.20 Pence Sterling, 85.21 Yen and 66.92 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $1.10 to $US1,248 an ounce.
Silver has added 5 cent to $US16.68 an ounce.
And Oil has gained 34 cents to $US43.72 a barrel.
