Australian shares are set to open the week slightly higher despite weak leads from Wall Street. US sharemarkets eased on Friday, stocks fell after a sharp decline in Broadcom shares put the broader tech sector under pressure. Broadcom fell almost 6 per cent after cutting its full-year revenue forecast by $2 billion blaming the US China trade conflict and export restrictions on Huawei.
Meantime, global oil prices rose on Friday. Attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman have raised fears about some disruption to oil supplies from the Middle East. The price of iron ore was also higher by more than 10 per cent over the week despite declining slightly on Friday. The surge in iron ore prices bolstered mining stocks such as Fortescue Metals and BHP Group.
US Economic news U.S. Retail sales rose 0.5 per cent last month as households bought more motor vehicles and a variety of other goods according to the Commerce Department. The pickup in activity indicates the US economy is ticking along without an urgent need for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
Local economic newsThe week kicks off on Tuesday with a speech by the Reserve Bank’s Head of Financial Stability, Jonathan Kearns. The ABS releases the Residential Property Price Indexes. On Wednesday the Department of Jobs and Small Business releases the Internet Vacancy Index for May. On Thursday the Commonwealth Bank issues its Business Sales Index for May. But all eyes with be on Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe’s speech at a luncheon in Adelaide. Also on Thursday, the ABS releases the December quarter population estimates. Finally on Friday, the Commonwealth Bank’s ‘flash’ services and manufacturing figures for June are issued.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1per cent to close at 26,090, the S&P 500 fell0.2per cent to close at 2887 and the NASDAQ lost 0.5 per cent to 7797.
European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE fell0.3 per cent, Paris lost 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt was down0.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite fell almost 1 per cent.
Returning home, the SPI futures are up 8 points. On Friday, the Australian share market ended the week at a fresh 11-year high closing 12 points (0.2 per cent) higher at 6554.
Company newsAfterpay Touch
(ASX:APT) has responded to queries from the ASX regarding an AUSTRAC investigation. Afterpay says it proactively approached the financial crime watchdog in August last year. The buy now pay later company says AUSTRAC told it in April this year that it was considering giving Afterpay notice to appoint an external auditor, but request further information before a decision was made. Afterpay was hit with a request for an external audit from AUSTRAC last week following a successful $300 million equity raising and $100 million selldown. Shares inAfterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT)closed 4.26 per cent lower at $21.59 on Friday.
Ex-DivJoyce Corporation
(ASX:JYC) is paying 1.7 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying68.73US cents, 54.62 Pence Sterling, 74.58 Yen and 61.30Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 2.2 per cent fall.
Gold hasadded$0.80 to US$1345 an ounce.
Silver was down9 cents to US$14.80 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.38 to US$52.77a barrel.
