Australian shares are set to open lower this morning after a global sell off saw metals and miners drop yesterday. Oil was hit hard too. High-level trade talks between the US and China have ground to a halt. The Trump administration continues to threaten to escalate a trade war. On Wall Street the US listed BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP) and Rio
(ASX:RIO) plunged. Iron ore futures are pointing to a gain.
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9 per cent to close at 24,700, the S&P 500 closed 0.7 per cent lower to close at 2,774 and the NASDAQ fell 0.6 per cent to close at 7717.
European markets closed lower yesterday: London’s FTSE fell 1.3 per cent, Paris lost 1.5 per cent and Frankfurt was down 1.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 1.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 1.8 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 8pts loss. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index falling 43 points to close at 6216.
Company news Corporate Travel Management
(ASX:CTD) has continued its push into the Asian market with the $50 million acquisition of a majority stake in a Hong Kong-based travel company. They will be acquiring 75.1 per cent of Lotus Travel Group. Their Asian partners Ever Prestige Investments will be acquiring the remaining 24.9 per cent. The deal makes them the largest travel management company in Hong Kong servicing Greater China, with a combined total transaction value approaching $2.5 billion.
Shares in Corporate Travel Management
(ASX:CTD) closed 0.07 per cent lower to $27.58 yesterday.
Ex-DividendsOne company is going ex dividend today.
Bentley Capital
(ASX:BEL) is paying 0.5c fully franked
Currencies One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US73.64 cents, 55.77 Pence Sterling, 82.43 Yen and 63.09 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to 1.4% gain.
Gold has lost $13.60 to $US1242 an ounce.
Silver has dropped 26c to $US15.82 an ounce.
Oil was down $3.33 to $US69.23 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has lost 0.2 per cent to US$6,392, Ethereum has lost 0.01 per cent to US$441 and EOS has dropped 3.6 per cent to US$7.16.
