Australian shares are set to see a rise today despite US stocks continuing to fall. The ongoing trade dispute between China and the US saw industrial companies in America feel the full force of President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs on a further $US200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Global markets also fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a sixth straight loss - that’s its longest slump in over a year. The S&P 500 hit its lowest point in three weeks. Mining stocks could have it tough on the Australian market today. BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto’s
(ASX:RIO) US listings suffered losses over night. Rio fell more than 4 per cent and BHP was down over 3 per cent. Gold and oil are down and iron ore futures are pointing to a loss.
Local Economic newsThere are no major economic announcements today - but traders will be interested in the Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell talking central bank policy in Portugal later today.
Figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session 1.2 per cent lower to close at 24,700, the S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent to close at 2,763 and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 per cent to close at 7726.
European markets closed lower yesterday: London’s FTSE dropped 0.4 per cent, Paris fell 1.1 per cent and Frankfurt lost 1.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower yesterday, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 1.8 per cent lower yesterday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.8% and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 3.8%.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 33pts gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed slightly lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index falling 2 points to close at 6102.
Company news Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) in Victoria and Western Australia are facing new race fields fee rates set by Racing Victoria for wagering on Victorian thoroughbred racing from 1 July this year. Racing Victoria has also proposed new racing bets levy rates for wagering on all Western Australian racing, starting 1 August 2018. Tabcorp notes that for the first time Racing Victoria has introduced a category for tote derivative bets. If the new Victorian and West Australian models had applied to the Tabcorp group in Financial year 2018, and in the absence of any mitigating strategies, the estimated NPAT impact would be approximately $5 million. Shares in Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) closed 0.43 per cent lower to $4.58 yesterday.
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US73.80 cents, 56.03 Pence Sterling, 81.24 Yen and 63.72 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.7 per cent loss.
Gold has lost $3.10 to $US1277 an ounce.
Silver was down 14c to $US16.30 an ounce.
Oil was down 79c to $US64.90 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed:
Bitcoin has dropped 0.03 per cent to US$6,738,
Ethereum has gained 2.8 per cent to US$533
EOS has fallen over 1 per cent to US$10.59.
