The Australian market is set for more volatility after the US sell-off continued on Friday despite some strong economic results. US Stocks fell sharply in part driven by disappointing earnings from key tech companies such as Amazon. Shares in the e commerce giant fell almost 8 per cent after the release of its quarterly results. While Alphabet shares dropped almost 6 per cent after the company failed to meet revenue estimates.US treasuries pushed higher as investors fled towards safe-haven government bonds over equities.
On the commodities front, global oil prices rose again on Friday as investors focused on the upcoming sanctions on Iran. Gold was also up around 0.3 per cent.
US economic newsIn the US, data showed the economy growing at a 3.5 per cent annual pace in the September quarter (forecast 3.4 per cent) while core prices grew at a 1.6 per cent annual pace (forecast 1.8 per cent). The consumer sentiment index fell from 100.1 to 98.6 (forecast 99) in October.
Local economic newsBack home there is an abundance of economic data out this week today the Commonwealth Bank releases the State of the States report, on Tuesday the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) issues Building approval data on Wednesday the ABS is due to release the quarterly Consumer Price Index while the Reserve Bank issues the private sector credit figures on Thursday we can expect the latest data on home prices from CoreLogic: as well as the-International trade figures from the ABS, and, finally on Friday the September quarter readings on business inflation are due.
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.2 per cent to close at 24,688, the S&P 500 fell 1.7 per cent to 2659 and the NASDAQ fell 2.1 per cent to 7167.
European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE fell 0.9 per cent, Paris lost 1.3 per cent and Frankfurt retreated 0.9 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower on Friday, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.4 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.2 per cent.
On the futures markets, the ASX futures are pointing to a 17 pts fall. On Friday, the Australian share market closed flat on Friday with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 1 point higher to 5665.
Company newsWestgold Resources
(ASX:WGX) has released its first annual report since its demerger from Metals X. The miner says over the year it has made major milestones toward the objective of becoming a long-life gold producer with assets in Western Australia. The Westgold Group has commenced five new underground mines in the Murchison region as well as five open pit mines. Production output was slightly below expectations totaliing 253 thousand ounces. Over the period the miner invested $176 million into capital to establish projects for the long term. Shares in Westgold Resources
(ASX:WGX) closed 4.04 per cent higher to $1.03 on Friday.
Ex-Dividends:
Clover Corporation
(ASX:CLV) is paying 1.25 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US70.94 cents, 55.38 Pence Sterling, 79.34 Yen and 62.29 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to a 1.1 per cent gain.
Gold has added $3.40 to $US1236 an ounce.
Silver was up 7 cents to $US14.70 an ounce.
Oil added 26 cents to $US67.59 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has fallen 0.04 per cent to US$6470, Ethereum has gained 0.2 per cent to US$204 and EOS was up 0.12 per cent to US$5.40.
