Iron ore prices bouyant: Aus shares set to open higher

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

Australian shares are set to open higher this morning after a good rally in base metals. Wall Street did well yesterday with all three major benchmarks extending their gains til the close. The NASDAQ registered its third straight record closing high. Financial stocks did well as investors eyed strong economic data. BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) advanced as did Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) The Dow leapt  with 26 of its 30 components rising, setting the pace was Boeing, DowDuPont and JPMorgan. Iron ore prices are buoyant and iron ore futures are pointing to a gain.

Local economic news 

We can expect to see the latest trade data later this morning. International Trade in Goods and services for April. This will provide estimates for 15 months of the major aggregates for international trade in goods and services, in a balance of payments basis, in both seasonally adjusted and trend estimates terms.

Figures from around the globe

Wall Street closed higher yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4 per cent to close at 25,146, the S&P 500 gained 0.9 per cent to close at 2,772 and the NASDAQ increased 0.7 per cent to close at 7689.

European markets closed mixed yesterday: London’s FTSE gained 0.3 per cent, Paris fell 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt was up 0.3 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher yesterday: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.03 per cent.

On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 30pts gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index adding 30 points to close at 6025.

Company news 

As previously announced, Godfreys Group (ASX:GFY) has a new executive team in place, including a new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. This team is in the process of reviewing cash flow numbers. Preliminary indications are that the Godfreys business may, without further financial support, experience cash flow challenges in early July 2018. Godfreys has already commenced discussions with its principal financier about an extension to the limit on its existing $30m senior debt facility. As indicated in Arcade’s bidders’ statement, should Arcade reach a 90 per cent relevant interest in Godfreys, it will proceed to acquire all outstanding share. As of yesterday, Arcade had received acceptances from more than 80 per cent of shareholders. Shares in Godfreys Group (ASX:GFY) closed flat at 33c yesterday.

Ex-Dividends

A number of companies are going ex dividend today.

Kathmandu Holdings (ASX:KMD) is paying 3.18c fully franked.
OFX Group (ASX:OFX) is paying 3c fully franked.
PTB Group (ASX:PTB) is paying 5c fully franked.
Salmat Limited (ASX:SLM) is paying 8c fully franked
Transmetro Corp (ASX:TCO) is paying 5c fully franked.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US76.69 cents, 57.18 Pence Sterling, 84.48 Yen and 65.14 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.6 per cent gain.
Gold has dropped $1.60 to $US1300 an ounce.
Silver has added 16c to $US16.70 an ounce.
Oil was down 51c to $US65.01 a barrel.

Cryptocurrencies

The three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mxed
Bitcoin has added 0.4 per cent to US$7649,
Ethereum has lost 0.3 per cent to US$606
EOS has fallen 1.6 per cent to US$13.87.
 

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