Dow inks 7th record, Local eyes on RBA statement: ASX flat open

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

The Dow Jones has recorded its 7th straight record close, while profit taking and selling weighted down on Apple's stellar run and Amazon.com shares, as well as the other big-tech giants. That of course tolled on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which closer lower . 

The major commodities are lower, with oil falling 1.1 per cent, while Copper, Silver and Gold are all in red territory.

With all of that in consideration, our local bourse is tipped for a hesitant start.

To US economic news

Non manufacturing economic activity softened in July. The Institute of Supply Management’s services index slipped 3.5 points from June to July. The index fell to a reading of 53.9 last month, which was less than the 57 expected. 15 of the 17 non-manfaucring industries reported growth in the month. Nevertheless, a reading above 50 indicates the service sector is expanding, so conditions aren’t that bad, despite missing forecasts.

Local economic news 

All eyes today will be on the RBA’s statement of monetary policy. It will include the RBA’s latest economic assessment, as well as inflation and economic growth forecasts that typically pave the way for where interest rates are headed.

And the ABS will also unveil the retail trade for June and June quarter.

Market 

Wall Street closed mixed: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.04 per cent to close at 22,026, the S&P 500 fell 0.22 per cent to close at 2,472 and the NASDAQ slipped 0.35 per cent to close at 6,340.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE gained 0.85 per cent, Paris added 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.25 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4 per cent.

And back home, the Australian share market closed in the red on Thursday: At the closing bell, The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 9 points down or 0.2 per cent lower for the day at 5,735.

On the futures market the SPI is 1 point lower.

Company news

Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX:SAR) has inked a deal to sell its King of the Hills (KoTH) gold mine in Western Australia for $16 million. The Australia gold miner entered the binding agreement to focus on its core production and exploration assets at Carosue Dam and Thunderbox, which are closer to its processing facilities, than the King of the Hills mine. Saracen will receive $7 million upfront, 90 million Red 5 shares (escrowed for 12 months) and $4.5 million in cash or Red 5 shares (at Saracen’s discretion) 12 month after completion, which will be by 30 September 2017. Meantime, Saracen will support the purchaser, Red 5 Limited (ASX:RED) by sub-underwriting to $1.5 million of Red 5’s intended rights issue.Saracen will therefore retain ongoing exposure to the asset and its potential source of ore, while Red 5 will assume all environmental liabilities. Shares in Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX:SAR) last traded 2.22 per cent lower to $1.32.

To ex-dividends

Two companies is going ex-dividend today: BKI Investment (ASX:BKI) is paying 3.7 cents fully franked and Djerriwarrh (ASX:DJW) is paying 10 cents fully franked.

Reporting season

We can watch out for Tabcorp (ASX:TAH) and Virgin Australia (ASX:VAH), which are set to report financial results today.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 79.52 US cents, 60.54 Pence Sterling, 87.40 Yen and 66.99 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost $4.00 to $US1,274 an ounce.
Silver has slipped $0.08 to $US16.65 an ounce.
And Oil has shed $0.66 to $US48.93 a barrel.
 

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