The Dow Jones has snapped its winning streak and the other two US major indices closed lower as well after President Donald Trump warned North Korea against making threats to the United States. President Trump announced that North Korea’s threat would be ‘met with fire and fury and power’. It comes as Pyongyang revealed it successfully created a miniaturised nuclear weapon to fit inside its missiles.
That left the Dow Jones unable to hit its 10th straight record high, and saw the index close marginally lower, while the S&P 500 and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost about 0.2 per cent each.
Meantime oil has slipped as producers increased their exports, while Gold is trading higher.
With all of that in equation, our SPI is tipping a small gain at the open.
In US economic newsUS job openings have jumped by 461,000 to a seasonally adjusted 6.2 million. That’s the highest level of job openings on record according to JOLTS.
The monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) results were pushed up by a surge in almost broad-based job openings.
Local economic news We will get a gauge of consumer confidence for August from Westpac and the Melbourne Institute.
Also today we will get June’s data on housing finance from the ABS. It will include home loans for owner-occupiers and investors.
The RBA Assistant Governor, Christopher Kent will give a speech at The Bloomberg Address.
MarketsWall Street closed lower: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.15 per cent to close at 22,085, the S&P 500 slipped 0.24 per cent to close at 2,475 and the NASDAQ lost 0.21 per cent to close at 6,370.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE rose 0.1 per cent, Paris added 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt rose 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite firmed 0.1 per cent up.
And back home, the Australian share market back peddled on Tuesday: At the closing bell, The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed about 30 points lower or 0.5 per cent down for the day at 5,744.
On the futures market the SPI is 6 points higher.
Company newsWhitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) has entered into agreements with its syndicate of Australian and international banks to refinance its senior bank facility. The coal producer’s new facility includes a $1 billion drawable line of credit and a $200 million bank guarantee capacity. The new facility is on more favorable terms than the one it replaces and was over oversubscribed. It’s due to mature in July 2021. The company says although the facility is for general corporate purposes and it will allow the firm to capitalise on future growth opportunities. Shares in Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) last traded 0.63 per cent higher yesterday to $3.21.
To reporting seasonThere are quite a few companies reporting their results today. We can watch out for Carsales.com
(ASX:CAR), Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA), HFA Holdings
(ASX:HFA) and SKYCITY Entertainment
(ASX:SKC).
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 79.15 US cents, 60.95 Pence Sterling, 87.34 Yen and 67.36 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $1.80 to $US1,267 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.18 to $US16.43 an ounce.
And Oil has slipped $0.43 to $US48.96 a barrel.
