Australian shares are set to open higher despite shares on Wall Street closing lower - pulling back after several days of highs with renewed fears about the US China trade rift. It could be as early as next week that President Donald Trump announces the $200 billion dollar tariffs on China – but may implement them in installments. China will respond with duties on $60 billion of US exports. US stocks fell on the news while the US dollar and yen gained. On the commodities front, oil has added 54 cents, silver and gold are down and Iron ore futures are pointing to 1.8 per cent gain.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5 per cent lower to 25,987, the S&P 500 lost 0.4 per cent to 2,901 and the NASDAQ fell 0.3 per cent to close at 8088.
European markets closed lower yesterday: London’s FTSE fell 0.6 per cent, Paris dipped 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.1 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 12 points gain. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed flat with the S&P/ASX 200 Index adding just half a point to close at 6352.
Company news Freedom Foods Group
(ASX:FNP) has posted a 68.7 per cent increase in full-year in its statutory net profit to $12.72 million. Operating EBDITA rose 49.5 per cent to $39.2 million. The diversified food company's revenue for the year to June 30 lifted 34.5 per cent to $352.99 million. The results were driven by a surge in sales after new product launches and expansion, with strong demand across Australia, China and South East Asia. The group announced a final dividend of 2.75 cents a share, up from 2.25 cents a year earlier. Shares in Freeedom Foods Group
(ASX:FNP) closed 3.47 per cent lower at $5.85.
Reporting season- NEXTDC
(ASX:NXT)- Reece
(ASX:REH)CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US72.67 cents, 55.86 Pence Sterling, 80.69 Yen and 62.30 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to 1.8 per cent gain.
Gold lost $5.70 to $US1206 an ounce.
Silver was down 22c at $US14.59 an ounce.
Oil added 54c to $US70.05 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has lost 1.7 per cent to US$6932, Ethereum has fallen 2.1 per cent to US$285 and EOS was down 2.9 per cent to US$6.05.
Ex-Dividends
