Australian shares are set to dip today as Wall Street slipped in late trade. Health and industrial sectors weighed down the US markets. Boeing was one of the worst performers shedding almost 3 per cent, while better than expected earnings reports from McDonalds and Allergan lifted sentiment.
Monday also marked the last trading day in April, which was the first positive month in three for the major benchmarks. The Dow and the S&P both rose almost 0.3 per cent for the month while the Nasdaq closed marginally higher.
Oil prices jumped after the Israeli Prime Minister said he had proof that Iran lied about its nuclear weapons capability. Gold is down slightly and iron ore rose by about 0.6 per cent.
US economic news:Personal income spending rose by 0.3 per cent In March, the same pace as February and slightly below the market expectation of 0.4 per cent. The increase in income reflects rises in wages and salaries.
Back home, the Reserve Bank board meets today but no changes in monetary policy are expected, interest rates are on hold until the end of 2018 due to retail deflation and low wages growth.
MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6 per cent to close at 24,163, the S&P 500 closed 0.8 per cent lower at 2,648 and the NASDAQ fell 0.8 per cent to close at 7066.
European markets closed higher yesterday: London’s FTSE rose 0.1 per cent, Paris gained 0.7 per cent higher and Frankfurt advanced 0.3 per cent.
To Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.7 per cent.
Back home the ASX futures are pointing to a 19pts drop. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 29 points higher at 5983.
Company newsCopper producer Mod Resources
(ASX:MOD) has recommended a consolidation of capital which would effectively reduce issued shares from 2.3 billion to 230 million shares. The board believes the consolidation is an important step towards MOD’s aim of becoming a substantial copper producer.
Shareholders will vote on the proposed consolidation at the AGM on the 30th of May.
Shares in MOD Resources
(ASX:MOD) closed 4.6 per cent higher to 4.6c yesterday.
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US75.32 cents, 54.72 Pence Sterling, 82.30 Yen and 62.38 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has dropped $7.30 to $US1316 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.14 to $US16.36 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.47 to $US68.57 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has lost 0.8 per cent to US$9279, Ethereum fell 1.2 per cent to US$673.28 and Ripple has dropped 2.6 per cent to US$0.84.
