Australian shares are set to climb again on hopes progress is being made between US and Chinese officials at trade talks in Beijing.Stocks rose on Tuesday as large tech companies such as Amazon and Apple outperformed. Facebook, Google parent company, Alphabet and Netflix also traded higher. The gains add to the FAANG trade's sharp rise since December. Oil prices gained momentum, supported by hopes that demand may rise more quickly if talks between the US and China are successful. Gold slipped as the US dollar rose and prospects of a US-China trade deal increased investors’ appetite for riskier assets such as stocks.
MarketsWall Street closed yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1 per cent to close at 23,787 the S&P 500 added 1 per cent to close at 2574 and the NASDAQ gained 1.1 per cent higher to close at 6897.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE up 0.7 per cent, Paris added 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt increase 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed:Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 0.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.3 per cent.
Returning home, the SPI futures are eyeing a lift of 20 points yesterday the Australian share market closed 39 points higher at 5 722.
Economic newsToday we get Australia’s first major economic indicators for the new year, with job vacancy and building approval figures due to be released.
Company newsCloud computing company, Megaport
(ASX:MP1) says North American monthly recurring revenue for the first half of the 2019 fiscal year has increased to $1 million. The result represents 80 per cent growth for the business. Megaport says the fantastic result validates the continued expansion of its network footprint. Shares in Megaport
(ASX:MP1) closed 1.1 per cent higher at $3.68 yesterday.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8.30 was buying 71.41 US cents, 56.17 Pence Sterling, 77.69 Yen and 62.44 Euro cents.
CommoditiesIron Ore is 1.3 per cent higher at 74.46 a tonne,its futures are eyeing a lift of 0.5 per cent
Gold has shed $3.70 to US$1286 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.05 to US$15.71 an ounce.
Oil has gained $1.08 to US$49.60 a barrel.
