Pleasing start for the second quarter: ASX poised to open higher

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

Australian shares are poised to open higher this morning following on US stocks which ended the week on a high. All three benchmarks closed higher. Both BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) both rose over 1 per cent on Wall Street last week. And it looks like a good start to the second quarter as we head into April here. Meanwhile over in China - they will continue to suspend tariffs on US auto and car parts from today with China continuing to talk to the US in the hope of ending their trade conflict. Iron Ore shot up over 2 per cent with commodities seeing a good run over the last three months due to supply worries.

Economic News 

Today we can expect to see the AiG performance of manufacturing for March, CoreLogic dwelling prices March, MI inflation March year over year and NAB business survey March - business conditions and confidence

Tomorrow the Australian Bureau of statistics will release building approvals for February. On Wednesday we are set to see International Trade in Goods and Services, February. Also the Retail Trade figures for February.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent to close at 25,929, the S&P 500 roes 0.7 per cent to close at 2,834 and the NASDAQ was up 0.8 per cent to close at 7729.

European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE rose 0.6 per cent, Paris closed 0.1 per cent higher and Frankfurt closed 0.9 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.8 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 3.2 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a rise of 18 point. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 5 points higher 0.1 per cent at 6181.

Company news

Last week Yancoal (ASX:YAL) agreed to enter into four coal sales agreements with POSCO and its associates who have agreed to buy their coal until the end of financial year 31 December 2019. The maximum amount Yancoal can receive will not exceed US$780 million. The is calculated by historical transaction amounts, the expected demand for coal and the estimated sale price. POSCO is a South Korean steel-making company headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. Shares in Yancoal (ASX:YAL) closed 0.6 per cent higher at $3.43.

Ex-dividends

Aurora Absolute Return Fund (ASX:ABW) is paying 0.15 cents unfranked.
Aurora Global Income Trust (ASX:AIB) is paying 0.09 cents unfranked.
Aurora Property Buy-Write Income Trust (ASX:AUP) is paying 3.56 unfranked.
CTI Logistics (ASX:CLX) is paying 2 cents fully franked.
Evans Dixon (ASX:ED1) is paying 5 cents fully franked.
Lycopodium Limited (ASX:LYL) is paying 15 cents fully franked.
NB Global Corporate Income Trust (ASX:NBI) is paying 0.875 unfranked.
Stanmore Coal (ASX:SMR) is paying 3 cents fully franked.
And Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) is paying 8 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:50AM was buying 71.25 US cents, 54.68 Pence Sterling, 79.1 Yen and 63.46 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.85 per cent gain.
Gold has risen $3.20 to US$1299 an ounce.
Silver is up $0.14 to US$15.11 an ounce.
Oil has increased $0.84 to US$60.14 a barrel.
 

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