Wall St uncertainty as China trade deal drags: ASX poised to open higher

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

Australian shares are poised to open higher.  Yesterday Wall Street fluctuated with sentiment surrounding the trade war with China feeling unsettled as a meeting set to end the dispute was postponed. President Donald Trump says he's in "no rush whatsoever" to finalise a deal. The British pound fell as the Brexit saga continues with no early end in sight.

Markets

Wall Street closed mostly lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed almost flat at 25,710, the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent to close at 2,808 and the NASDAQ dropped 0.2 per cent to 7631.

European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 0.4 per cent, Paris gained 0.8 per cent and Frankfurt was up 0.1 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 1.2 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are up 16 points. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 0.3 per cent higher or 18 points at 6180

Company news

Gold coast developer Villa World (ASX:VLW) received an unsolicited proposal from AVID Property Group Australia (AVID) to acquire all of the shares in Villa World by way of scheme of arrangement. Only announced yesterday – the offer of $280 was put forward on the 8th March 2019. Despite the incomplete, conditional and non-binding nature of the approach the board are discussing the offer. The indicative consideration offered by AVID is effectively $2.231 per share. Shares in Villa World (ASX:VLW) closed 2.45 per cent lower at $1.99 yesterday.

After more than five years as managing director of IRESS’ (ASX:IRE) business in the United Kingdom, Simon Badley will step down from his role and leave IRESS at the end of June 2019. Simon played a pivotal role in IRESS’ successful 2013 acquisition of Avelo, where he was chief executive. Shares in IRESS (ASX:IRE) closed 3.31 per cent higher at $12.80 yesterday.

Ex-Dividend

Glennon Small Companies Ltd (ASX:GC1) is paying 1 cent fully franked
Generation Development Group Ltd (ASX:GDG) is paying 1 cent unfranked
Healius Ltd (ASX:HLS) is paying 3.8 cents fully franked
Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN) is paying 13 cents fully franked
Reject Shop Ltd (ASX:TRS) is paying 10 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 70.66 US cents, 53.42 Pence Sterling, 78.93 Yen and 62.54 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.6 per cent gain.
Gold has lost $13.60 to US$1296 an ounce.
Silver has dropped $0.28 to US$15.18 an ounce.
Oil was $0.20 higher at US$58.79 a barrel.
 

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