Australian shares are poised to open lower on the first day of trade for the year, although Wall Street managed to end 2018 solidly in the green with the Dow closing up 1.2 per cent on New Year's Eve. Nasdaq Composite had its first four-day advance since August around optimism that President Donald Trump will move towards finalising a trade deal with China. Stocks around the world limped into the end of the year and 2019 looks set to see risk events for the markets as Europe heads towards Brexit and the wait for that on-going China deal.
MarketsWall Street closed up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.1 per cent to close at 23,327, the S&P 500 added 0.9 per cent to close at 2,507 and the NASDAQ gained 0.8 per cent to close at 6635.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE lost 0.1 per cent, Paris gained 1.1 per cent and Frankfurt is up 1.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 1.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite is up 0.4 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are eyeing a fall of 46 points.On Monday the Australian share market closed 8 points lower or 0.1 per cent down to 5,646
Company newsResources company MMG
(ASX:MMG) say that Minera Las Bambas and Minmetals Peru entered into the Las Bambas Grinding Media Supply Agreement for the Las Bambas operation for an initial term of 6 months. The agreement provides for the supply of hot roll forged and hand forged steel grinding balls by Minmetals Peru for use in the production of metals concentrates by Minera Las Bambas. The balls are introduced into rotating steel mills and are used to pulverise the ore into a more workable size that also allows for easier extraction of the metal concentrate from the ore. MMG's major shareholder is China Minmetals Corporation, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Shares in MMG
(ASX:MMG) last traded at $5.00
Ex-dividendsMagellan Global Trust
(ASX:MGG) is paying 3 cents unfranked
NB Global Corporate Income Trust
(ASX:NBI) is paying 87.5 cents unfranked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 70.59 US cents, 55.42 Pence Sterling, 77.4 Yen and 61.62 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a lift of 0.6 per cent
Gold has gained $3.40 to US$1285 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.02 to US$15.56 an ounce.
Oil has risen $0.40 to US$45.81 a barrel.
