The Australian sharemarket looks set to edge higher this morning despite Wall Street ending lower on Friday. The market is expected to receive a boost from Scott Morrison's surprise coalition victory. Labor's defeat is expected to be viewed positively by investors and the business community concerned about the economic impact of Labor's reform program which included plans to abandon cash refunds on excess franking credits and capital gains tax for investment properties.
Meantime in the US on Friday, stocks were dragged down after reports trade talks between the US and China had stalled. US President Trump said he would delay a decision on auto tariffs by as much as six months.
Local economic newsOver the coming week, Reserve Bank events will dominate the economic calendar following the Federal election. All eyes will be on Governor Philip Lowe’s speech in Brisbane on Tuesday immediately after the minutes of the May 7 Board meeting are issued. The Commonwealth Bank is also due to release the Business Sales Index. On Wednesday the ABS provides an update on construction activity and the Department of Jobs and Small Business releases the Internet Vacancy Index.On Thursday the Commonwealth Bank and Markit release the preliminary May services and manufacturing purchasing manager indexes (PMI).
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4 per cent to close at 25,764, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to close at 2860 and the NASDAQ dropped over 1 per cent to 7816.
European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE fell 0.1 per cent, Paris dropped 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed also mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.2 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 2.5 per cent.
Returning home, the SPI futures are up 5 points. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 37 points (0.6 per cent) higher at 6365.
Company newsMelbourne based gold miner St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) has released its retail entitlement booklet for eligible shareholders following the successful completion of its institutional offer. St Barbara hopes to raise about $490 million from institutional and retail shareholders to fund its acquisition of Canadian miner Atlantic Gold. Shares in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) closed 12.35 per cent lower at $2.91 on Friday.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:50 AM was buying 69.03 US cents, 54.24 Pence Sterling, 75.97 Yen and 61.84 Euro cents.
CommoditiesIron Ore has gained 2.5 per cent to at US$101.71. It futures suggest a 1.94 per cent gain.
Gold has dropped $10.50 to US$1276 an ounce.
Silver was down 15 cents to US$14.39 an ounce.
Oil has fallen 14 cents to US $62.92 a barrel.
