Dow rallies and closes above 23,000 record: Flat start ahead for ASX

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

Wall Street has seen another record close with the Dow Jones closing above 23,000 for the first time after IBM shares surged 9 per cent. The Dow touched the 23,000 point mark on Tuesday, but closed just under.

The fresh rally saw the Dow gain over 160 points, after IBM reported better than expected quarterly results. The other two major US indices also closed in the black.

On the commodities front, the US crude oil price has hit a 3-week high, settling above US$52, while the base and precious metals have fallen, along with the iron ore price. In fact, with the iron ore price falling over 3 per cent, our miners are expected to see some selling today.

Taking in the mixed bag of news, our local bourse is set for a flat start at the open.

Local economic news

The all-important jobs data is out today, with expectations the unemployment rate will fall from 5.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent in September, while employment numbers are tipped to have grown by over 23,000. Slightly less than August.

And the RBA Assistant Governor (of the Financial System), Michele Bullock, will give a speech at Australian Shareholders Association Conference in Sydney.

Markets 

Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent to close at 23,158, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to close at 2,561 and the NASDAQ closed flat at 6,624.

European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE rose 0.4 per cent, Paris gained 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.4 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 per cent.

And back home, the Australian share market closed flat yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished at 5,890.

On the futures market the SPI is 3 points down.

Company news 

ANZ (ASX:ANZ) is planning to sell its 40 per cent stake in Philippines based Metrobank Card Corporation. It’s initially selling 20 per cent to the parent company, Metrobank for $184 million. In the fourth quarter of FY18, the bank can sell its remaining 20 per cent on the same terms under a put option and if exercised, will take the total sale price to $368 million. The bank will make a after tax gain of $245 million if the sale put option is exercised. The bank initially invested $14 million in the Philippines card corporation. Shares in ANZ (ASX:ANZ) closed 0.03 per cent higher at $30.35.

Clean energy company, Windlab (ASX:WND) says the wind, solar and storage hybrid power station, Kennedy Energy Park is ready for construction to begin. It comes after announcing the power station reached financial close with the company to receive a development fee of $5.4 million. It will also earn construction management fees of about $600,000. Once the project is operational, the company will be entitlement to $900,000 per annum for 20-years, for asset management and site operation. Shares in Windlab (ASX:WND) closed 3.13 per cent lower at $1.55

Ex-dividends

Two companies are going ex-dividend today:

Oneall International (ASX:1AL) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked,
And Aust Vintage (ASX:AVG) is 1 cent fully franked.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:50AM was buying 78.48 US cents, 59.45 Pence Sterling, 88.62 Yen and 66.58 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost $3.60 to $US1,283 an ounce.
Silver has fallen 2 cents to $US17.02 an ounce.
Oil has gained 14 cents to $US52.25 a barrel.
 

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