The Australian share market is likely to slip in early trade after a sell-off on Wall Street overnight amid disappointing trade deficit data.
US economic news
In a fresh sign of weakness in US growth, manufacturing activity contracted for the first time since November. The US manufacturing sector came in at 49 in May, down from 50.7 in April, and well below the 50.9 that was expected by economists.
Figures
Wall Street fell on that news: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 76 points to close at 15,178, the S&P 500 shed 9 points to close at 1,631 and the NASDAQ fell by 20 points to close at 3,445.
European markets made modest gains: London’s FTSE added 33 points, Paris lifted by 5 points and Frankfurt gained 10 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 3 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 272 and China’s Shanghai Composite was down by 27 points.
The Australian share market broke its three-day losing streak, ending higher after the Central Bank kept the cash rate on hold yesterday.
The S&P/ASX 200 index gained 13 points yesterday to close the session at 4,901.
On the futures market the SPI is 19 points down.
Currencies
The Australian dollar slid sharply this morning, continuing the decline that started after the RBA’s announcement. At 7:20AM the Aussie was buying $US96.53 cents, 63.04 Pence Sterling, 96.58 Yen and 73.81 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release its national accounts figures, including gross domestic product for the March quarter and the Australian Industry Group and Commonwealth Bank will release its Performance of Services Index for May.
Company news
Myer’s Holdings Limited
(ASX:MYR) annual stocktake sale got off to a rocky start overnight after its website crashed due to heavy customer traffic, according to media reports. The annual sale officially begins today, but the chain decided to give online customers a head start by offering items at a discount on its website last night. Shares in Myer jumped 0.41 per cent yesterday to close at $2.44.
Macquarie Group Limited
(ASX:MQG) has hired a former Commonwealth Bank executive to handle its ASIC-directed regulatory sanctions. Michelle Weber was at CBA during the period when the bank was managing the Commonwealth Financial Services sanctions program before joining Macquarie. Shares in Macquarie rose 1.13 per cent yesterday to close at $42.13.
Commodities
Gold is down $14.70 to $US1,397 an ounce for the August contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.31 to $22.41 for July. Copper is up $0.04 at $3.37 a pound. Oil is down $0.14 at $US93.31 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
