Australian shares look set to open lower this morning following sharp falls across the US market overnight. Stocks dropped after weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings and guidance from Caterpillar, as well as a big revenue forecast cut from chipmaker Nvidia. Investors remain concerned about the Chinese economy slowing and ongoing tariff tensions between the US and China.
Economic NewsThere is a raft of economic news due out this week. Today CommSec releases the latest State of the States report and NAB releases its business survey. On Wednesday the ABS issues the quarterly Consumer Price Index. On Thursday, the ABS releases the December quarter data on export and import prices together with detailed estimates of the job market in December, and the Reserve Bank issues the Financial Aggregates publication. On Friday, CoreLogic releases the January Home Value Index and the ABS releases the Producer Price Indexes for the December quarter.
MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.8 per cent to close at 24528, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8 per cent to close at 2,644 and the NASDAQ shed 1.1 per cent to close at 7086.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 0.9 per cent, Paris dropped 0.8 per cent and Frankfurt shed 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.03 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite also dropped 0.2 per cent.
Returning home, the ASX futures point to a fall of 18 points.on Friday the Australian share market closed 0.7 per cent higher or 40 points higher 5,906.
Company newsCasino operator SkyCity Entertainment
(ASX:SKC) says it expects to report better than expected growth in underlying earnings for first half of 2019. The company received a boost from favourable performance in Auckland and strong growth in its international business. Skycity expects first-half profit to be around NZ$97 million up 11 percent from the same time last year. Shares in SkyCity
(ASX:SKC) closed 0.3 per cent lower at $3.47 on Friday.
Ex dividendsDjerriwarrh investments ASX:DJW is paying 10 cents fully franked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:00AM was buying 71.69 US cents, 54.48 Pence Sterling, 78.41 Yen and 62.75 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has risen 4.6 per cent to at US$78.13. Iron ore prices surged overnight in the wake of the Minas Gerais mining disaster in Brazil.
Gold has gained $5.00 to US$1309 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.07 to US$15.77 an ounce.
Oil has gained $1.47 to US$52.22 a barrel.
