US tech stocks fall: Aus shares to open flat

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

The Australian share market is set to open flat today as big name tech stocks struggled to rebound as volatility continues to plague US markets. Declines in technology stocks and retailers weighed on the market, offsetting gains in health care and other sectors.

Amazon lost 7.5 per cent - that’s $US53 billion after President Donald Trump announced he wanted to give the company a less favourable tax treatment.

On the commodities front – Brent crude was down half a per cent a barrel. Gold was also down.

US economic news 

The official GDP figures, showed the American economy grew at 2.9 per cent in the final quarter of 2017, a slowdown which was less than expected.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 7 points gain. with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 43 points lower at 5789.

Company news

Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN) has announced the drilling rig for the Phoenix south 3 well is expected to be in location around April 5th following a delay caused by cyclone Marcus.

The rig is located off the coast of western Australia. Cyclone Marcus passed through in front of the planned tow route

Drilling operations are expected to commence on 10th April.

The well will target the gas and condensate discovered at the top of the Caley interval. 

Shares in Carnarvon Petroleum (ASX:CVN)  are down 3.7% to $0.13.

Figures from around the globe

Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.04 per cent to close at 23,848, the S&P 500 fell 0.3 per cent to close at 2,605 and the NASDAQ dropped 0.9 per cent to close at 6949.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE gained 0.6 per cent, Paris added 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.3 per cent.

Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.4 per cent.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying US78.54 cents, 56.24 Pence Sterling, 83.99 Yen and 63.78 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost around $19 to $US1329 an ounce.
Silver has dropped $0.28 to $US16.27 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.15 to $US64.67 a barrel.

Cryptocurrencies

The three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has fallen 0.64 per cent to US$7941, Ethereum fallen 2.6 per cent to US$448 and EOS has gained 2.3 per cent to US$6.31

Ex-Dividend


 

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