Australian shares look set to fall after US markets closed mixed on Friday following a roller coaster session. Financials and tech stocks weighed on the S&P 500 with JP Morgan Chase and Google parent company alphabet among the worst performers. However, the Aussie market might get a boost off the back of news that the US and China won’t be proceeding with a range of tariffs this week.
Gold ended higher and oil is still above $71 dollars.
Local economic newsIt’s a quiet week for Aus eco news, on Wednesday the Reserve Bank Governor Phillip Lowe will give a speech at the Australia-China relations institute. Also on Wednesday the ABS will release figures on construction work. On Thursday we can look out for more detailed figures on the job market for April which will include key insights on regional areas.
MarketsWall Street closed mostly lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat 24,715, the S&P 500 closed 0.3 per cent lower at 2,713 and the NASDAQ fell 0.4 per cent to close at 7354.
European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE ended 0.1 per cent lower, Paris dropped 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.4% higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.2 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 30pts drop. On Friday, the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 7 points lower to 6087.
Company newsVirgin Australia
(ASX:VAH) has announced the successful pricing of $150 million dollars of senior unsecured fixed rate notes.
The notes priced on 18 May with settlement expected to complete on the 30th of May (2018)
The airline will use the proceeds to refinance and for general corporate purposes.
Shares in Virgin Australia
(ASX:VAH) closed 4.17 per cent lower to 23c on Friday
Ex-dividendsAmy f Four
(ASX:AYK) is paying 26 cents fully franked. While Elders
(ASX:ELD) is paying 9 cents also fully franked.
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US75.32 cents, 55.91 Pence Sterling, 83.53 Yen and 64.00 Euro cents.
CommoditiesIron ore futures are pointing to a 3.7 per cent drop.
Gold has gained $1.90 to $US1291 an ounce.
Silver has lost 3c to $US16.45 an ounce.
Oil has fallen 20c to $US71.37 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher: Bitcoin has added 3.3 per cent to US$8550, Ethereum has gained 3.2 per cent to US$721 and EOS has risen 7.5 per cent to US$14.11.
