Australian shares are set to see a rise today. A surge in energy and industrial shares helped Wall Street's yesterday, despite losses. The S&P 500 Index fell to session lows after President Donald Trump raised doubts about the outcome of talks between his trade representatives and China’s negotiator. Tech heavyweight Cisco fell 2.8 per cent, the most on the Dow, after the company's forecast indicated its transition to a software-focused business was a work in progress. And Walmart slipped 1.6 per cent, reversing premarket gains, after it said profit margins were under pressure, despite sales and earnings beating expectations. Gold is down but oil is on the rise and iron ore futures are pointing to a gain.
Figures from around the globeWall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to close at 24,714, the S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent lower at 2,720 and the NASDAQ fell 0.2 per cent to close at 7382.
European markets closed higher yesterday: London’s FTSE ended 0.7 per cent higher, Paris rose almost 1 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.9 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed yesterday: Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.5 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.5 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 14pts gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 13 points down to 6094.
Company newsANZ
(ASX:ANZ) is to sell its 55 per cent stake in Cambodian JV ANZ Royal Bank to J Trust, a Japanese diversified financial holding company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The decision to sell is part of the ANZ Group’s review of international partnerships, in order to simplify the business and operate wholly-owned Institutional businesses in the region. The proceeds inclusive of transaction costs, taxes and the release of accumulated foreign currency translation reserves, equates to a $30 million loss on sale completion for ANZ. ANZ has also announced the sales of its stakes in Metrobank Card Corporation in the Philippines and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank in China, as well as its Australian life insurance and superannuation businesses.
Shares in ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ) closed 0.79 per cent higher at $27.99 yesterday.
Ex-dividendsJust one company are going ex-dividend today:
Janus Henderson
(ASX:JHG) is paying 48.42c unfranked.
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US75.12 cents, 55.59 Pence Sterling, 83.20 Yen and 63.70 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.3 per cent gain.
Gold has dropped $1.50 to $US1290 an ounce.
Silver has added 7c to $US16.45 an ounce.
Oil has gained 13c to $US71.69 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has lost 1.1 per cent to US$8227, Ethereum has fallen 1.6 per cent to US$688 and EOS has gained 2.4 per cent to US$12.74.
