Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. US stocks continue to hit new records after a strong rally in tech. Apple, Amazon and Alphabet all underpinned gains. Investors continue to speculate on progress to be made by the Trump administration on international trade issues this week.
On the commodities front, oil surged toward $70 a barrel, and gold lost.
Local economicWe can expect to see private capital expenditure second quarter and building approvals for July.
MarketsWall Street closed higher yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.2 per cent higher at 26,125, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent to 2,914 and the NASDAQ rose almost 1 per cent to close at 8110.
European markets closed mixed yesterday: London’s FTSE fell 0.7 per cent, Paris gained 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.3 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 18 points gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index adding 48 points to close at 6352.
Company news Australian slot machine company Ainsworth Game Technology
(ASX:AGI) saw its Profit after tax fall 15.8 per cent to $31.9 million on the back of significant declines in Asia as well as Europe, New Zealand and Australia.It’s revenue declined 5.8 per cent to $265.6 million in the 12 months to 30 June 2018. EBITDA for the year fell 3.3 per cent to $68 million. Despite these figures, in June, in New South Wales, they had 15 per cent share of new installations, more than double their average for the year. And revenue in the Americas grew by 3 per cent for the year with North America increasing by 4% and Latin America stable. Shares in Ainsworth Game Technology
(ASX:AGI) closed 3.11 per cent higher at $1.16.
IPOsIn IPOs today we can expect to see exploration company Coolgardie Minerals
(ASX:CM1) float at 12:30 today with an issue price of $0.20 in ordinary fully paid shares.
Reporting Season A just few companies are reporting today as we move closer to the end of reporting season.
- Donaco International
(ASX:DNA)- Perpetual
(ASX:PPT)- Ramsay Health Care
(ASX:RHC)CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US73.15 cents, 56.16 Pence Sterling, 81.70 Yen and 62.49 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold lost $1.60 to $US1213 an ounce.
Silver was down 9c at $US14.80 an ounce.
Oil added $1.17 to $US69.70 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has lost 0.6 per cent to US$7047, Ethereum has fallen 1.3 per cent to US$291 and EOS was up 6.8 per cent to US$6.24.
Ex-Dividends
