Australian shares look set to open flat after mixed leads from Wall Street on Monday. US stocks mostly rose yesterday as gains in Berkshire Hathaway boosted the broader financial sectors The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 ended in the green for the fourth time in five days. But the Nasdaq went the other way dragged down by Apple and Amazon. Shares in Apple fell after the stock was downgraded amid expectations of lower iPhone sales. US long-term treasuries rose on Monday (yields lower) with investors cautious ahead of mid-term elections and the Federal Reserve rate decision.
On the commodities front, oil has dipped slightly after the US formally imposed punitive sanctions on Iran.
Local economic news Today the Reserve Bank board meets but no change in interest rates is expected but investors are keenly awaiting commentary on financial market volatility, inflation, the Aussie dollar and developments in the housing and labour markets.
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed mixed yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8 per cent to close at 25,462, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent as well to 2,738 and the NASDAQ fell 0.4 per cent higher at 7329.
European markets closed mixed yesterday: London’s FTSE added 0.14per cent, Paris fell 0.01 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.2 per cen tlower.
Asian markets closed lower, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.4 per cent.
On the futures markets, the SPI futures are pointing to a 1point fall.Yesterday,the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 31 points lower to 5818.
Company newsFonterra Shareholders Fund
(ASX:FSF) has today confirmed its offering up to $100 million of senior fixed rate bonds to institutional investors and to New Zealand retail investors. The offer will opens today with an indicative margin of 1.25 to 1.35 per cent per annum. The bonds are expected to mature in 2025. . Shares in Fonterrra shareholders fund
(ASX:FSF) closed flat at $4.45 yesterday
Ex-DividendsBisalloy Steel Group
(ASX:BIS) is paying 4c fully franked
One Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying US72.12 cents, 55.30 Pence Sterling, 81.64Yen and 63.23 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures are pointing to 1.2 per cent gain
Gold fell$0.40 to $US1233 an ounce.
Silver was down 10 cents at $US14.65 an ounce.
Oil dropped $0.37 to $US62.77 a barrel.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed: Bitcoin has added 1.5 per cent to US$6426,Ethereum has fallen 0.5 per cent to US$208 and Bitcoin Cash was down 0.3 per cent to US$556.
