Following positive leads from US markets overnight, the Australian share market looks set to open higher. Mining and energy stocks will see some pressure today after commodities took a hit. Gold, copper, iron ore and oil prices all fell lower. The Dow Jones closed up, as did the NASDAQ.
Wall Street received a boost after US President Donald Trump announced his import tariffs on steel and aluminium would start in 15 days.
And yesterday’s news that Australian trade has rebounded from a surprisingly large deficit at the end of last year, to record an unexpectedly large surplus in January is still being digested.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 14 points gain. Yesterday the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 41 points higher at 5943
US economic news:US President Trump has signed the Tariff order and confirms a 25 per cent tariff on steel, 10 per cent on aluminium. All countries are invited to negotiate exclusions but Canada and Mexico are exempt as long as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) deal goes through. This will come into effect after two weeks.
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 24,895, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to close at 2,739 and the NASDAQ added 0.4 per cent to close at 7,428.
European marketsEuropean markets closed stronger: London’s FTSE added 0.6 per cent, Paris gained 1.3 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.9 per cent higher.
Asian markets Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.5 per cent.
Company news The world’s biggest dairy exporter Fonterra
(ASX:FSF) released results today showing exports from Australia, the US and New Zealand are up for the month. They have also seen further growth in dairy exports from the European Union. The results come as the company considers their investment in Chinese milk company Beingmate. Its Chinese partner has lost 70 per cent of its market value in three years. Fonterra paid $553m for a minority stake in Chinese infant formula maker in 2015.
Shares in Fonterra Shareholder’s Fund closed 0.6 per cent lower to $5.42 yesterday
Ex-dividends3 companies are going ex-dividend today:
Oz Minerals
(ASX:OZL), Vista Group
(ASX:VGL), WiseTech Group (ASX:WTC
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying US77.87 cents, 56.38 Pence Sterling, 82.72 Yen and 63.26 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has lost $4 to $US1323 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.01 to $US16.50 an ounce.
Oil has lost almost $1 to $US60.32 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 4.6 per cent to US$9505, Tether gained 0.02 per cent to US$1, and Ethereum has fallen about 5 per cent to US$713.
