Australian shares look set to start to the week on a positive note following solid leads from Wall Street on Friday. Stocks posted strong weekly gains, led by tech shares, as the sector surged almost 5 per cent over the week. Nvidia was the best-performing stock in the sector, rising more than 12 percent while other semiconductor stocks like Broadcom and Lam Research also rose sharply. Reports of progress in trade talks between the US and China also helped to boost equities. But it wasn't all good news, shares in Tesla slid 5 per cent after the launch of its latest car.
Local Economic NewsThe week kicks off on Tuesday when the Reserve Bank releases the Board Minutes of its monthly meeting on Wednesday Internet job Vacancy data is due. On Thursday all eyes will be on the February employment report and the September quarter population estimates are also due.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5 per cent to close at 25,849, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to close at 2,822 and the NASDAQ rose 0.8 per cent to close at 7689.
European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.6 per cent, Paris gained over 1 per cent and Frankfurt rose 0.9 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.8per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.6 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed over 1 per cent higher.
Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are up 35 points. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.1 per cent lower or 4 points lower at 6175.
Company newsGlobal subscription-based meal kit provider, Marley Spoon
(ASX:MMM) has kicked off an investor roadshow in Australia. The company has flagged 78 per cent YoY revenue growth driven by strong sales momentum. The company says the US is now its largest region, accounting for 40 per cent of revenue with sales up 101 per cent. Shares in Marley Spoon AG
(ASX:MMM) closed 3.03 per cent lower at $0.48 on Thursday.
Ex-DivAlliance Aviation Services Ltd
(ASX:AQZ) is paying 6.8 cents fully franked
BlackWall Property Trust
(ASX:BWR) is paying 5 cents unfranked
Chorus Ltd
(ASX:CNU) is paying 9.0684 cents unfranked
FFI Holdings Ltd
(ASX:FFI) is paying 10 cents fully franked
Ironbark Capital Limited
(ASX:IBC) is paying 1.8 cents fully franked
1300 Smiles Limited
(ASX:ONT) is paying 12.5 cents fully franked
Pacific Smiles Group Ltd
(ASX:PSQ) is paying 2.3 cents fully franked
Shriro Holdings Ltd
(ASX:SHM) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Sealink Travel Group Ltd
(ASX:SLK) is paying 6.5 cents fully franked
Think Childcare Ltd
(ASX:TNK) is paying 6.5 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 70.86US cents, 53.33 Pence Sterling, 78.99 Yen and 62.57 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron ore futures suggest a 0.9 per cent gain.
Gold has added $7.80 to US$1303 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.15 to US$15.32 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.09 to US$58.82 a barrel.
