The Australian share market is set to rise at the open as over the US the S&P 500 and Nasdaq saw a rally after strong earnings from broad range of companies. This led to closing at an all time high. Meanwhile the oil market could be vulnerable to price spikes after Trump's crackdown on Iranian imports. And in an interesting twist on the China and US trade deal. China has been ravaged by an outbreak of African swine flu recently, a virus for which there is no cure or vaccine. The outbreak has led to more than a million pigs being culled, according to the Chinese government. This could have important implications regarding their trade deal with the US meaning China may have to make some concessions as their pig prices rise.
Local economic newsConsumer Price Index, for March 2019 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
MarketsWall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.6 per cent higher at 26,656, the S&P 500 added 0.9 per cent to close at 2934 and the NASDAQ gained 1.3 per cent to 8121.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE jumped 0.9 per cent, Paris added 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent,Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.5 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are up 14 points. Yesterday the Australian share market closed 60 points (0.95 per cent) higher at 6319.
Company News Good news for medical device company PolyNovo
(ASX:PNV) as they detailed the trial of the use of NovoSorb BTM in Diabetic Foot and Venous Leg Ulcers. This was a trial conducted at Wake Forest University Hospital in North Carolina. They presented at the Diabetic Limb Salvage conference in Washington DC where they showed three patients where the NovoSorb BTM performed extremely well with final wound closure achieved through secondary intention (no skin graft). The size of the wounds healing via secondary intention was a surprise and demonstrates the high quality of dermis generated within the NovoSorb BTM. Shares in PolyNovo
(ASX:PNV) closed 3.35 per cent higher at $0.92.
Ex-DividendEaston Investments Ltd
(ASX:EAS) is paying 1 cent fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 71.01US cents, 54.91 Pence Sterling, 79.38 Yen and 63.27 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.7 per cent drop.
Gold has dropped $3.30 to US$1274 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.19 to US$14.87 an ounce.
Oil added $0.63 to US$66.18 a barrel.
