The US share market was back in the green at close and the Australian futures continue to rise, setting the Australian share market up for a positive day.
The Dow surged 187 points, with consumer staples along with info tech the best performing sectors. Wal-Mart saw a rise after reporting promising quarterly results that were better than market expectations after seeing growth in grocery and online sales. Cisco also jumped higher after reporting earnings and revenue that beat market consensus. Investors were glad to hear that Wall Street passed a key vote on tax reform, which could mean the corporate tax cuts would go ahead.
Oil is tracking lower following rising US oil supplies. Gold is steady as the market sees a rise. Iron ore has picked up, which should be a positive change for the miners today.
US economic newsConsumer prices in the US gained 2 per cent in October from 2.2 per cent, which was in line with market expectations. Retail sales rose 0.2 per cent in October, above market expectations of no growth after a 1.9 per cent rise in September
Local economic newsNew motor vehicle sales for October will be out today. Numbers fell in September by half a per cent. Tourist arrivals and departures for September will also be out. Numbers increased by 2.2 per cent last month.
FiguresWall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8 per cent to close at 23,458, the S&P 500 added 0.8 per cent to close at 2,586 and the NASDAQ increased 1.3 per cent to close at 6,793.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE is up 0.2 per cent, Paris gained 0.7 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 9 points up to finish at 5,944.
On the futures market the SPI is 42 points up.
Company newsPower company Genex
(ASX:GNX) has secured up to $5 million in federal government funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). The funds will be used to accelerate Stage 2 of the Kidston project to financial close. Shares in Genex
(ASX:GNX) closed 4.92 per cent lower to 29 cents.
Ex-dividends6 companies are going ex-dividend today:
Commodities Gold has gained $0.80 to $US1,279 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.11 to $US17.08 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.13 to $US55.39 a barrel.
