Australian shares were set to open lower today despite the S&P 500 in New York hitting an all time high yesterday and equalled its longest ever bull-market run. US stocks rose from the consumer sector and amid relative calm over the US-China trade battles. The US dollar weakened slightly after President Donald Trump hit out at the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates. On the commodities front, gold and oil are up and Iron Ore is trading 1.9 per cent lower at $US66.54 a tonne and the futures for iron ore are suggesting a 0.2 per cent fall.
Local economicToday we can expect to see the June quarter results for construction work, and the skilled job vacancies for July. Also RBA governor Philip Lowe will speak in Brisbane later today.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe now Wall Street closed higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.3 per cent higher to close at 25,822, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to close at 2,863 and the NASDAQ increased 0.5 per cent to close at 7859.
European markets closed mixed yesterday: London’s FTSE dropped 0.3 per cent, Paris was up 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.4 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng increased 0.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.3 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 19 points fall. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index losing 61 points to close at 6284
Company news Biotechnology company Immutep
(ASX:IMM) has received a cash rebate from the French Government for research and development. The Research Tax Credit is a French Government incentive for research within Europe. Immutep qualifies to receive CIR credits through its subsidiary Immutep S.A.S. due to the work conducted in its laboratory in Paris. The company will receive $1.9 million to help develop immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Shares in Immutep
(ASX:IMM) closed flat to 3.5c yesterday.
Reporting SeasonCompanies reporting today are: -
- Adelaide Brighton
(ASX:ABC)- A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M)- carsales.com
(ASX:CAR)- Charter Hall Group
(ASX:CHC)- Cleanaway Waste Management
(ASX:CWY)- Coca-Cola Amatil
(ASX:CCL)- LendLease Group
(ASX:LLC)- McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS)- Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM)- Seven Group Holdings
(ASX:SVW)- St Barbara
(ASX:SBM)- Sydney Airport
(ASX:SYD)- Vocus Group
(ASX:VOC)- WorleyParsons
(ASX:WOR)Ex-dividendsAGL Energy
(ASX:AGL) is paying 63c 80 franked
AMP
(ASX:AMP) is paying 10c 50 franked
CVC
(ASX:CVC) is paying 8c fully franked
Link Admin
(ASX:LNK) is paying 13.5c fully franked
Mount Gibson Iron
(ASX:MGX) is paying 3c fully franked
Pact Group
(ASX:PGH) is paying 11.5c 65 fully franked
CurrencyOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US73.68 cents, 57.10 Pence Sterling, 81.19 Yen and 63.68 Euro cents.
CommoditiesIron ore futures are pointing to 0.2 per cent fall.
Gold gained $8.10 to $US1203 an ounce.
Silver was up 10c at $US14.77an ounce.
Oil added $0.65 to $US66.07 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has lost 0.7 per cent to US$6484, Ethereum has dropped 1.3 per cent to US$281 and EOS was down 3.6 per cent to US$4.85.
