The local sharemarket looks set to open higher this morning after stocks on Wall Street posted a solid session on Friday. The Nasdaq hit a record high as stocks rebounded from a two-day loss on the back of better-than-expected US jobs data. Non-farm payrolls (employment) rose by 263,000 in April (outpacing expectations of +189,000). The jobless rate fell from 3.8 per cent to a 49-year low of 3.6 per cent. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.2 per cent. Amazon was among the best performers on Friday as shares popped over 3 per cent after Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway has been buying the stock. Meantime, shares of Tesla jumped nearly 4.5 per cent after the electric car maker said it increased the size of the stock and bond offering announced earlier in the week.
And in breaking news, the Dow futures have dropped 400 points after President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on US $525 billion of Chinese goods because Beijing is moving to slowly on a deal.
Local economic newsToday the Melbourne Institute issues the monthly inflation gauge. Tomorrow all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank's policy decision with the market divided on whether the bank will cut the cash rate to a new record low. The ABS will also release both the retail and international trade data for Marchand AiGroup’s construction gauge is due out. On Friday, the Reserve Bank releases its Statement of Monetary Policy. The market will be watching the Board’s GDP growth and inflation forecasts closely.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.8per cent to close at 26,505, the S&P 500 added almost 1 per cen tto close at 2,946 and the NASDAQ gained 1.6 per cent to 8164.
European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.4 per cent, Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt rose 0.6 per cent.
the SPI futures are up 31 points. On Friday, the Australian share market closed flat (down 3 pts or 0.04 per cent) at 6336.
Company newsMining services business, Ausdrill
(ASX:ASL) has announced that ratings agency, Moody’s has assigned a ‘Ba2’ issue rating to its proposed US$500 million Guaranteed Senior Unsecured Notes to be issued by Ausdrill's wholly owned subsidiary Ausdrill Finance. Moody’s also affirmed Ausdrill’s corporate family rating of ‘Ba2’. Shares in AusDrill
(ASX:ASL) closed 2.9 per cent lower at $1.49 on Friday.
Ex-DividendsAneka Tambang
(ASX:ATM) is paying 0.1014 cents unfranked
Jupiter Mines Ltd
(ASX:JMS) is paying 2.5 cents unfranked
PTB Group Limited
(ASX:PTB) is paying 7 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:35 AM was buying 69.83 US cents, 53.09 Pence Sterling, 77.30 Yen and 62.47 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has added $9.30 to US$1281 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.36 to US$14.98 an ounce.
Oil has risen $0.13 to US $61.94 a barrel.
