The local sharemarket looks set to open higher this morning after stocks on Wall Street made a dramatic comeback on Monday. Stocks recovered the bulk of their losses heading into the final hour of trade. The Dow fell 471 points in early trade, but bounced back to end the session down just 66 points. The market's comeback was boosted by media reports that a Chinese delegation will still travel to the US to continue trade talks this week. Disney was among the best performers on the Dow helping to offset some of the declines, Chevron and McDonald's were also higher.
Local economic newsLocally all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank's policy decision later today with the market evenly split on whether the bank will cut the cash rate to a new record low of of 1.25 per cent. The ABS will also release both the retail and international trade data for March, and, AiGroup’s construction figures are due out.
MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 per cent lower at 26,438, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent to close at 2932 and the NASDAQ lost 0.5 per cent to 8123.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE was closed, Paris lost 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt dropped over 1 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.9 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 5.6 per cent.
Returning home, the SPI futures are up 25 points. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 52 points (0.8per cent) lower at 6284.
Company newsLong Term Asset Partners has abandoned its $3.3 billion takeover bid for GrainCorp
(ASX:GNC). The collapse of the deal was announced after market close yesterday. LTAP Chairman, Tony Shepherd says had due diligence supported operational assumptions, LTAP is confident it would have turned the LTAP the proposal into a binding offer as contemplated. Shares is Graincorp
(ASX:GNC) closed 1.35 per cent lower at $8.76.
Ex-DividendsNeometals Ltd
(ASX:NMT) is paying 2 cents 50 per cent franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 69.90 US cents, 53.40 Pence Sterling, 77.34 Yen and 62.46 Euro cents.
CommoditiesIron Ore futures suggest a 0.4 per cent gain
Gold has gained$1.00 to US$1282 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.06 to US$14.91 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.60 to US$62.54 a barrel.
