The Australian share market is expected to plunge in to the red after US stocks closed sharply lower on a weaker-than-expected jobs report and other global markets suffered steep falls.
The losses on Wall Street were mild compared to Japan's Nikkei Stock Average which tumbled by 3.8 per cent, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement of a new growth strategy failed to impress investors.
Figures
Wall Street fell after US private sector jobs growth in May missed expectations: The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 217 points to close at 14,961, the S&P 500 lost 22 points to close at 1,609 and the NASDAQ was down by 44 points to close at 3,401.
European markets were also deep in the red: London’s FTSE lost 139 points, Paris dropped 73 points and Frankfurt shed 100 points.
Asian markets plummeted: Tokyo’s Nikkei dived by 519 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 216 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite was down by 1 point.
It was a joyless day on the local market yesterday as a soft GDP reading sent the Australian share market 1.34 per cent lower.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 66 points down to finish at 4,835.
On the futures market the SPI is 47 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian dollar continued to slide overnight after those sluggish national account figures raised the possibility of more interest rate cuts by the RBA. Analysts say our currency dipped after the release of the GDP report and fell again after a pessimistic report on the Australian economy by Goldman Sachs. At 7:20AM the Aussie was buying $US95.45 cents, 61.97 Pence Sterling, 94.63 Yen and 72.89 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release its international trade in goods and services data for April
Company news
Alcoa’s
(ASX:AAI) Australian arm has been hit with a ratings downgrade amid a weak global aluminium market. Ratings agency Moody's lowered Alcoa of Australia's rating, saying the headwinds pressuring the industry were expected to continue, including lower growth from China, a slow recovery in the US and ongoing weakness in Europe. Shares in Alcoa dropped 2.86 per cent yesterday to close at $8.50.
Ramelius Resources Limited
(ASX:RMS) says it produced a record amount of gold in May. The Perth-based gold miner says milled production at its Mt Magnet gold mine in central Western Australia reached a record 6,230 ounces in May while total production for April and May was 11,747 ounces. Shares in Ramelius jumped on the news by 6.45 per cent to 16.5 cents.
Ex-dividend CSR Limited
(ASX:CSR) will pay 2.1 cents per share unfranked.
Commodities
Gold is up $1.30 to $US1,398.50 an ounce for the August contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.06 to $22.47 for July. Copper is down $0.01 at $3.37 a pound. Oil is up $0.43 at $US93.74 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
