Australian shares are poised to open higher this morning as US stocks started the new year with a small rebound after a pretty bad December run. Fluctuations came after reports of a weakness throughout the global manufacturing sector. The US dollar rose as the euro and pound slid and the Australian dollar slumped to below US70 cents, the lowest its been for around three years. Oil rallied as Saudi Arabia cut exports.
MarketsWall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.08 per cent to close at 23,346, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to close at 2,510 and the NASDAQ gained 0.5 per cent to close at 6666.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE gained 0.1 per cent, Paris lost 0.9 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 1.2 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are 73 points up. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 1.6 per cent lower or 89 points lower to 5,558.
Company newsPapua New Guinea based Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) has given an update on its Alaskan developments. During December, construction of the ice road and ice pad were completed in Alaska at the North Slope at Pikka B Well. This allowed for rig mobilisation to the well site. Drilling commenced on 31 December 2018. Oil Search Limited is the largest oil and gas exploration and development company incorporated in Papua New Guinea, which operates all of Papua New Guinea's oilfields.They moved into Alaska last year buying a significant stake from Armstrong Oil and Gas. Shares in Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) closed 3.1 per cent lower at $6.94.
Ex-DividendClime Capital
(ASX:CAM) paying 1.25 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:30am was buying 69.86 US cents, 55.46 Pence Sterling, 76.07 Yen and 61.59 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a lift of 1.1 per cent
Gold has gained $5.30 to US$1287 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.04 to US$15.58 an ounce.
Oil has gained $1.03 to US$46.44 a barrel.
