Australian stocks are set for a weak start with the futures index falling following reports President Trump will finally impose tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. On Wall Street stocks closed lower led by declines in Amazon and Apple amid investor fears the companies could be caught in the middle of a China US trade war.
A weaker US dollar has boosted gold prices while the price of most base metals slipped on the back of concerns that demand for metals will weaken as a result of the trade dispute.
Local economic newsToday the Reserve Bank Board minutes are released as well as the quarterly home price indexes
Global MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4 per cent to close at 26,062, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 2,889 and the NASDAQ was down 1.4 per cent to close at 7896.
European markets were also weaker yesterday: London’s FTSE closed 0.03 per cent lower, Parisfell0.1 per cent and Frankfurtlost 0.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.1 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 4 points fall. Yesterday,the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index adding 20 points to close at 6185.
Company newsCoal producer and developer, Yancoal
(ASX:YAL) has pre-paid US$150 million in loans to further reduce its existing debt liabilities. Yancoal has now made a total of US$800 million in debt pre-payments since the completion of the company's acquisition of Coal & Allied Industries from Rio Tinto last year. Yancoal says it's committed to reducing its debt, maximizing operational synergies and strengthening its balance sheet to drive improved shareholder value. Shares in Yancoal Australia
(ASX:YAL) closed flat at 12 cents yesterday.
Ex-DividendsAbsolute Equity Perf
(ASX:AEG) is paying 2.5c fully franked
Embelton
(ASX:EMB) is paying 30c fully franked
Ivegroup
(ASX:IGL) is paying 7.5c fully franked
Qube Holdings
(ASX:QUB) is paying 4.8c fully franked
Zenitas Health
(ASX:ZNT) is paying 1.5c fully franked
One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US71.80 cents, 54.59 Pence Sterling, 80.32 Yen and 61.47 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to 0.2 per cent gain.
Gold gained $5.00 to $US1206 an ounce.
Silver added 7 cents at $US14.21an ounce.
Oil was down 24 cents to $US68.53a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has lost 3.6per cent to US$6275, Ethereum has dropped 11per cent to US$197 and EOS has fallen 11.8 per cent to US$4.79.
