Australian shares are set for a flat start following weak leads from Wall Street. US tech stocks came under pressure on Wednesday putting the brakes on the June rally. Tech shares were dragged down by chip stocks after an analyst said recovery in the space will likely be pushed back to the second half of 2020. Shares in Facebook shed almost 2 per cent after a media report revealed more issues with the company’s privacy practices.
Meantime oil has plunged 4 per cent on the back of rising US crude stockpiles.
Local economic newsToday all eyes will be on the latest jobs figures. Local markets will be watching to see if the Coalition victory last month provided a significant boost to employment numbers.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed weaker yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent to 26,005, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent to close at 2880 and the NASDAQ closed 0.4 per cent lower at 7793.
European markets closed weaker: London’s FTSE fell 0.4 per cent, Paris lost 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt shed 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower,Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.6 per cent.
¬Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are up 2 points. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 3 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 6544.
Company newsRio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) has released an audit of its global tailings dams around the world identifying dozens of sites that would generate a “high” hazard if they were to fail. The report released last night reveals around 40 of the mining giant’s tailings storage facilities are considered to have at least a “high” hazard consequence in the event of a failure. A number of these sites are closed or under rehabilitation. Rio says it has a structured approach to managing tailings facility risks, with three levels of governance and assurance that it applies to all facilities. Shares in Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) closed1.9 per cent higher at $102.41 yesterday.
Ex-DivCimic Group Ltd
(ASX:CIM) is paying 86 cents fully franked
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corp Ltd
(ASX:FPH) is paying 12.7745 cents unfranked
Hillgrove Resources Limited
(ASX:HGO) is paying 1.5 cents fully franked
Plato Inc Max Ltd.
(ASX:PL8) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
Select Harvests Limited
(ASX:SHV) is paying 12 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 69.30 US cents, 54.66 Pence Sterling, 75.19 Yen and 61.39 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.7 per cent fall.
Gold has added$6.00 to US$1337 an ounce.
Silver was up $0.02 to US$14.76 an ounce.
Oil dropped $2.09 to US$51.66 a barrel.
