Following strong leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. As Hurricane Irma weakened to a category 5 storm and the fear of significant damages receded, investors saw a buying opportunity on US markets. Overnight the S&P 500 rallied to a record close, while the Dow jumped more than 250 points. Apple also regained ground, pushing 1.8 per cent higher, with investor anticipating an upcoming product announcements Tuesday US time.
On the commodities front, gold has dropped nearly 1.5 per cent, as investors reduced their exposure to defensive assets.
US economic newsAugust survey data released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has indicated consumer inflation expectations over the next 12 months have dropped to 2.49 per cent, the weakest reading since January 2016. The survey is seen by some market watchers as a leading indicator as to whether interest rates will be raised by the central bank.
Local economic newsDue out today is NAB’s Business Confidence survey.
MarketsWall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.19 per cent to close at 22,057, the S&P 500 surged 1.08 per cent to close at 2,488 and the NASDAQ jumped 1.13 per cent to close at 6,432.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 0.5 per cent, Paris rose 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt was up 1.4 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lifted 1.0 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 41 points up to finish at 5,713. On the futures market the SPI is 31 points up.
Company newsAxiom Mining
(ASX:AVQ) has announced $2M of Convertible Notes have been bought forward and made available to finance the next phase of work on its Isabel Nickel Project in the Solomon Islands. The company has commented that it has received initial indications from the Solomon Ministry of Mines that licensing for the project is a major and immediate priority. CEO Ryan Mount pointed to nickel ore continuing to be in short supply, with uncertainty in the Philippines over the future of open pit mining for the metal as positively impacting on Axiom’s position in the market. Shares in Axiom Mining
(ASX:AVQ) last traded 21.74% higher yesterday at $0.28.
Ex-dividends11 companies are going ex-dividend today: Cimic Group Limited
(ASX:CIM) will pay 60 cents fully franked, CSL Limited
(ASX:CSL) will pay 91.53 cents unfranked, News Corp
(ASX:NWS) will pay 8.89 cents unfranked and Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL) will pay 8 cents fully franked.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US80.28 cents, 60.99 Pence Sterling, 87.82 Yen and 67.17 Euro cents.
CommoditiesGold has lost $19.50 to $US1,332 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.27 to $US17.86 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.62 to $US48.10 a barrel.
