Asian market rally stalls: ASX poised to open higher

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

Australian shares look set to open higher this morning after Wall Street closed mostly higher. It seems the US and China trade deal maybe further away than investors had hoped. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial both swung between gains and losses. White House economic adviser Lawrence Kudlow says President Donald Trump is optimistic about trade talks.

Economic News

Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 24553, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to close at 2,642 and the NASDAQ gained 0.7 per cent to close at 7073.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE lost 0.4 per cent, Paris gained 0.7 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.5 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite also gained 0.4 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures point to a rise of 20 points. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 0.4 per cent higher or 22 points higher 5,866

Company news

Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) reported an underlying net profit after tax of $20.9m that's a 5.3 per cent increase over the prior corresponding period for the six months. Continuing operations increased underlying net profit after tax by 8.7 per cent over this same period which reflected growth in deferred management fees from their Village business and realised development gains from sites completed earlier in the year. Operating cashflow of $47.1m was 175.9 per cent higher than the prior corresponding period with sale proceeds from developments completed earlier in 2018 contributing $43.5m, which represents an increase of 287.8 per cent. The selldown of two developments completed in the previous year contributed to this strong cash generation in the reporting period. Shares in Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) last traded at $1.03

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 9:00AM was buying 70.99 US cents, 54.34 Pence Sterling, 77.83 Yen and 62.75 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has risen 0.3 per cent to at US$74.71. It futures suggest a rise 0.6 per cent.
Gold has lost $4.10 to US$1286 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.06 to US$15.32 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.56 to US$43.18 a barrel.
 

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