Australian shares are set to open higher this morning as US stocks slip amid a lack of progress on the US-China trade deal. General Electric Co. slipped after its CEO forecast negative industrial free cash flow this year. Wall Street's three benchmarks ended slightly lower.
Local Economic NewsWe are waiting for a key speech by the RBA governor. The title of his speech is The Housing Market and the Economy. Also fourth quarter GDP data.
MarketsWall Street closed weaker lower: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1 per cent to close at 25,807, the S&P 500 shed 0.1 per cent to close at 2,790 and the NASDAQ was down 0.02 per cent to close at 7576.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 0.7 per cent, Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.2 per cent higher.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.4 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed almost flat and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.9 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are up 9 points. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 0.3 per cent lower or 18 points at 6199.
Company newsAngloGold Ashanti
(ASX:AGG) has agreed to sell its interest in Northern Colombia Holdings to Royal Road Minerals to focus on its other Colombian exploration projects. Northern Colombia Holdings includes mining concession agreements covering approximately 36,000 hectares and the rights to acquire further mining concessions.The agreement with Royal Road Minerals will see AngloGold receive a cash payment of around $4.6 million with further payments amounting to $35 million in total if certain milestones are reached.Shares in AngloGold Ashanti
(ASX:AGG) closed 0.78 per cent lower at $3.83 yesterday.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:45 AM was buying 70.85 US cents, 53.77 Pence Sterling, 79.27 Yen and 62.67 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has shed 0.8 per cent to US$87.03. It futures suggest a 0.2 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $1.40 to US$1289 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.04 to US$15.15 an ounce.
Oil has dipped $0.11 to US$56.48 a barrel.
Ex-DividendsAriadne Australia
(ASX:ARA) is paying 0.7 cents fully franked
AUB Group Ltd
(ASX:AUB) is paying 13.5 cents fully franked
Accent Group Ltd
(ASX:AX1) is paying 4.5 cents fully franked
Brambles Limited
(ASX:BXB) is paying 14.5 cents 65 per cent franked
Ellerston Asian Investments Ltd
(ASX:EAI) is paying 1 cents fully franked
Excelsior Capital Ltd
(ASX:ECL) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Ellerston Global Investments Ltd
(ASX:EGI) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Event Hospitality and Entertainment Ltd
(ASX:EVT) is paying 21 cents fully franked
FlexiGroup Limited
(ASX:FXL) is paying 3.85 cents fully franked
Hansen Technologies Limited
(ASX:HSN) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited
(ASX:KME) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
MACA Limited
(ASX:MLD) is paying 2 cents fully franked
MNF Group Ltd
(ASX:MNF) is paying 2.1 cents fully franked
OceanaGold Corp
(ASX:OGC) is paying 1.05 cents unfranked
Pacific Group Ltd
(ASX:PAC) is paying 10 cents fully franked
PM Capital Global Opportunities Fund Ltd
(ASX:PGF) is paying 1.8 cents fully franked
Perpetual Limited
(ASX:PPT) is paying 125 cents fully franked
Qube Holdings Ltd
(ASX:QUB) is paying 3.8 cents fully franked
Ramsay Health Care
(ASX:RHC) is paying 60 cents fully franked
Servcorp Limited
(ASX:SRV) is paying 13 cents 40 per cent franked
Service Stream Limited
(ASX:SSM) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
