Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. A slew of positive economic data on the jobs and services front helped drive the Dow and Nasdaq to a record close, while the S&P came close to its intraday record.
On the commodities front, oil has dropped just over 1 per cent on fears of a global oversupply, as U.S. crude exports jumped to a record 2 million barrels per day.
US economic newsMarkets reacted positively as private sector hiring data from ADP reported 135,000 workers were hired during September, beating expectations of 125,000. While the number was the lowest in 11 months, the number helped allay widespread fears of a harder jobs landing off the back of Hurricane Irma and tropical storm Harvey. The ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI index also performed better than expected despite impacts on the supply chain from Irma and Harvey, jumping to 59.8 in September. The figure was mainly driven by a rise in production and new orders.
Local economic newsToday the ABS will release August balance of trade data. Economists are expecting a $0.9B surplus. Retail sales data will also be released for August, with markets betting on a 0.4 per cent up lift on July’s figure.
MarketsWall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to close at 22,662, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to close at 2,538 and the NASDAQ rose slightly to close at 6,535.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE was flat, Paris fell 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.7 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted 0.3 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 49 points down to finish at 5,652.
On the futures market the SPI is 19 points up.
Company newsOceanaGold Corporation
(ASX:OGC) has announced its Haile Gold Mine commenced commercial production on October 1st. The gold producer took ownership of the South Carolina mine less than two years ago and has indicated the operation is cash flow positive, with operating costs in line with expectations. Later this month OceanaGold will disclose the final reconciled revenue and costs associated with the pre-commercial phase of the Haile mine, as part of its Q3 reporting. Shares in OceanaGold Corporation
(ASX:OGC) are last traded flat at $3.86.
Ex-dividendsA number of companies are going ex-dividend today: Auckland International Airport
(ASX:AIA) will pay 9.66 cents unfranked, ARB Corporation
(ASX:ARB) will pay 18 cents fully franked, and Sims Metal Management
(ASX:SGM) will pay 30 cents 66.67 per cent franked.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying $US78.63 cents, 59.33 Pence Sterling, 88.63 Yen and 66.86 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has gained $3 to $US1,278 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.03 to $US16.62 an ounce.
Oil has dropped $0.52 to $US49.90 a barrel.
