US Fed rate cut expected: Aus shares to open lower

Market Reports

by Ortenzia Borre

Australian shares are poised to open lower this morning with Wall Street investors keeping a careful watch as US policymakers began their latest meeting in Washington.

All eyes will be on The Federal Reserve as it's widely expected to deliver a third straight interest-rate cut on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee announcement is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. ET (eastern time) or 5am tomorrow morning.

In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson could reach an early election after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn confirmed that the "conditions have been met" for the party and he will back a government bill to support a mid December election date.

The election would mark the UK's first December poll since 1923.

Also out of London, Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) is set to cut close to 100 jobs in its equities trading business across Europe and the US.

The move is the latest by a global investment bank to trim equity operations this year due to difficult market conditions and regulatory change.

Local economic news

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the September quarter is due out.

Markets

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1per cent to close at 27,071, the S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent lower at 3037 and the NASDAQ dipped 0.6per cent to 8276.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE dropped 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.02 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed:Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.4 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.9 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.4 per cent loss.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 4 points (0.07%) higher at 6745.

Company news

QMS Media (ASX:QMS) is set to be acquired by Quadrant Private Equity at an offer of $420M.

The Outdoor advertising company announced it has entered into a Scheme Implementation Deed with the Private Equity group and its institutional partners.

This deal would see Quadrant acquire 100% of QMS in an all-cash offer of $1.22 per share. The deal values QMS’ equity at $420.6m, with an enterprise value of $571.6m.

The announcement of the bid sent shares in QMS up by more than 20 per cent with board members unanimously backing the Quadrant Scheme.

The deed is expected to be implemented in the first quarter of 2020

Shares in QMS Media (ASX:QMS) closed 23.5 per cent higher at $1.24 yesterday.

Ex – Dividend

Gryphon Capital (ASX:GCI) is paying 0.76 cents unfranked
Perpetual Credit Trust (ASX:PCI) is paying 0.37 cents unfranked
Qualitas (ASX:QRI) is paying 0.79 cents unfranked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 68.65US cents, 53.37 Pence Sterling, 74.73 Yen and 61.79 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.8 per cent fall.
Gold has dropped $4.70 to US$1491 an ounce.
Silver has lost 6 cents to US$17.82 an ounce.
Oil has fallen by $0.39 to US$55.42 a barrel.

 

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter?

Would you like to receive our daily news to your inbox?