Australian shares are set to rise today following a rally on Wall Street last Friday. Shares of Apple hit an all-time high to lead the tech sector higher. The IPhone makers stock jumped 3.9 per cent lifting the Dow which closed 332 points higher. The rise came after Warren Buffet revealed that he bought millions of shares in the company in recent months. Meantime, weaker than-expected wages growth also eased investor concerns about inflation
Global oil prices jumped on Friday supported by the possibility of new US sanctions against Iran. Iron ore fell by around 1 per cent and gold rose slightly.
US economic newsThe unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in April an 18 year low.
Meantime, Total job creation of 164,000 and wage growth of 2.6 percent were both were below economist expectations.
Local economic newsBack home this week the Federal Budget will be in focus.
Other economic news includes today’s NAB business survey. Analysts expect business conditions to remain strong for April.
On Tuesday the retail spending figures for March are released. The consensus is that retail trade may have lifted 0.3 per cent in March.
Tomorrow night the Federal Budget is handed down. The treasurer has indicated that government finances are around $7 billion better than expected. This is because consumers are indeed spending, people are getting jobs, the global economy is stronger and companies are operating efficiently.
Based on speculation so far, the budget will be focused on tax cuts and infrastructure
spending.
On Friday, data on home loans for March is released.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.4 per cent to close at 24,263, the S&P 500 closed 1.3 per cent higher at 2,663 and the NASDAQ gained 1.7 per cent to close at 7210.
European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE rose 0.9 per cent, Paris added 0.3 per cent higher and Frankfurt gained just over 1 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 38 pts gain. On Friday, the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 35 points down to 6063.
Company newsYancoal
(ASX:YAL) has completed its joint venture with Glencore for Hunter Valley operations. Glencore has acquired a 16.6 per cent interest in the operations from Yancoal for about $429 million as well as a 32 per cent interest from Mitsubishi. The venture will be controlled by Yancoal and Glencore through a joint venture management committee.
Shares in Yancoal Australia
(ASX:YAL) closed flat at 13c on Friday.
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US75.38 cents, 55.70 Pence Sterling, 82.25 Yen and 63.03 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are flat.
Gold has gained $1.10 to $US1315 an ounce.
Silver has risen 7c ($0.07) to $US16.52 an ounce.
Oil has added $1.29 to $US69.72 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has lost 2.6 per cent to US$9553, Ethereum fell 3.2 per cent to US$781 and Bitcoin Cash had added 0.6 per cent to US$1708.
