The Australian Share market is set to open higher following on from Wall Street which ended lower. President Donald Trump gave a state of union speech on Tuesday and appeared to be backing away from his previous optimism that the US and China are close to a trade deal. His top negotiators are heading to Beijing. In the US videogame makers gave disappointing revenue forecasts.
Economic NewsAiG performance of construction for January
MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent to close at 25,390, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to close at 2,732 and the NASDAQ was down 0.4 per cent to close at 7375.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.1 per cent, Paris lost 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt dipped 0.4 per cent.
Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 0.1 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are up 18 points. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 0.3 per cent higher or 20 points to 6026.
Company newsThe Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR) today released its interim results for the half year ending 31 December 2018, and despite a challenging residential market they have seen a 26 per cent increase in operating profit to $290 million. Mirvac’s CEO & Managing Director, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz says they remain confident to deliver operating earnings growth of between 3 and 4 per cent and distribution growth of 5 per cent in FY19. They are tightening operating EPS guidance for FY19 to between 16.9 cents and 17.1 cents per stapled security with distribution guidance of 11.6 cents per stapled security. Net tangible assets per stapled security increased 6 per cent from last year to $2.44. Shares in Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR) closed 0.41 per cent higher at $2.46 yesterday.
Companies reporting today- AGL Energy
(ASX:AGL)- Australian Unity Office Fund
(ASX:AOF)- Downer EDI
(ASX:DOW)- Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR)- Newscorp
(ASX:NWS)Ex-DividendKatana Capital
(ASX:KAT) is paying 0.25 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:50 AM was buying 71.10 US cents, 55.00 Pence Sterling, 78.20 Yen and 62.60 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has fallen $8.60 to US$1311 an ounce.
Silver has dropped $0.16 to US$15.68 an ounce.
Oil has added $0.31 to US$53.97 a barrel.
