Following weak leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open lower. Wall Street equities sank on Monday as the fallout from the White House’s moves against Chinese telecom giant Huawei hit tech shares. Google has severed business ties with Huawei. The smartphone company won’t be able to integrate key Google services like the Play app store.
Local economicAll eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia today as they release the latest policy meeting. Governor Philip Lowe will give a speech at midday.
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 per cent to 25,680, the S&P 500 fell 0.7 per cent to close at 2840 and the NASDAQ dropped 1.5 per cent to 7702.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.5 per cent, Paris lost 1.5 per cent and Frankfurt dropped 1.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.4 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are down 41 points. Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 111 points (1.7 per cent) higher at 6476.
Company newsSpark Infrastructure
(ASX:SKI) says Victoria Power Networks (Finance), the Common Funding Vehicle for Victoria Power Networks has raised US$310 million of 10-year US Dollar fixed rate Private Placement notes. Cross currency swaps were executed at the time of the note placement resulting in total proceeds of approximately $448 million. The proceeds will be used to refinance existing debt and for general working capital requirements. Victoria Power Networks is the consolidating parent of the group of companies that manage and operate Victoria’s electricity distribution and sub-transmission networks. It operates through two main divisions, CitiPower and Powercor. Spark's principal investment is a 49 per cent holding in SA Power Networks, CitiPower and Powercor, with the remaining 51 per cent owned by the Cheung Kong group. Shares in Spark Infrastructure
(ASX:SKI) closed 1.7 per cent lower at $2.31 yesterday.
Ex-DividendsAusnet Services Ltd
(ASX:AST) is paying 4.86 cents 45.06 per cent franked.
United Overseas Australia Limited
(ASX:UOS) is paying 2 cents unfranked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 69.09US cents, 54.31Pence Sterling, 76.06 Yen and 61.88 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.1 per cent fall..
Gold has added $1.80 to US$1278 an ounce.
Silver was up $0.06 to US$14.45 an ounce.
Oil gained $0.38 to US$63.30 a barrel.
