The Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning. Wall Street saw weak leads possibly due to the first US case of coronavirus that has killed six people in China. Public health officials have confirmed over 300 cases of the illness. Cases have also been confirmed in Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Comparisions are being made with the SARS outbreak in 2003 which had clear economic and financial market impact. In other news, earlier this month Amazon filed to trademark ‘Amazon Pharmacy’ here and in Canada and the UK, signalling a potential move into selling prescription drugs outside of the US.
MarketsWall Street closed lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5 per cent lower at 29,196, the S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent to 3321 and the NASDAQ dipped 0.2 per cent to 9370-
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE lost 0.5 per cent, Paris dipped 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt added 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 2.8 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 1.4 per cent lower.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a steady start.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.2 per cent lower at 7066.
Company news Greg Fox, Bapcor’s
(ASX:BAP) Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary has announced that he will retire at the end of the 2020 financial year. Greg has been Bapcor’s CFO since February 2012 and has been instrumental in the development of the business over the last eight years. When Greg joined “Burson” as a privately owned business in 2012, turnover was approximately $280 million pa from 92 stores. Now eight years later, Bapcor Limited is a listed public company with over 1,000 locations operating in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand and an annual turnover of approximately $1.6 billion p.a.. Shares in Bapcor
(ASX:BAP) closed 1.88 per cent lower at $6.26
Ex-dividendsMirrabooka Investments
(ASX:MIR) is paying a dividend of 3.5 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 9:00 AM was buying 68.45 US cents, 52.48 Pence Sterling, 75.22 Yen and 61.78 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has gained 0.1 per cent to $96.80
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.3 per cent fall.
Gold has added $2.10 to US$1558 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.30 to US$17.70 an ounce.
Oil has shed $0.32 to US$58.26 a barrel.
