The Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning as US stocks plunge. The global impact of the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern with South Korea now reporting near 1000 confirmed cases and the death toll from the virus in Iran reaching at least 15. European shares ended at their lowest in nearly two months on Tuesday. On the commodities front, oil has retreated and gold has also slowed on its momentum.
Local economic newsConstruction Work Done for the fourth quarter
MarketsWall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.2 per cent to close at 27,081, the S&P 500 closed 3.03 per cent lower at 3128 and the NASDAQ dropped 2.8 per cent to 8966.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 1.9 per cent, Paris dropped 1.9 per cent and Frankfurt was down 1.9 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.27 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.6 per cent while Tokyo’s Nikkei was 3.3 per cent lower.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 2.3 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 1.6 per cent lower at 6866.
Company news Healius
(ASX:HLS) has confirmed that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding indicative offer from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Partners Group to acquire all of the shares in Healius by way of a Scheme of Arrangement. The Proposal is $3.40 cash per share and is subject to a number of conditions including 6 weeks of due diligence. The Board has not yet formed a view on whether the price offered under the Proposal represents an appropriate value for Healius. Shares in Healius
(ASX:HLS) closed 2.5 per cent lower at $2.76 yesterday.
Ex-DividendsAGL Energy Limited
(ASX:AGL) is paying 47 cents 80% franked
Codan Limited
(ASX:CDA) is paying 7.5 cents fully franked
Domain Holdings Aus
(ASX:DHG) is paying 2 cents fully franked
IMF Bentham Ltd
(ASX:IMF) is paying 3 cents fully franked
IRESS Limited
(ASX:IRE) is paying 30 cents 40% franked
Kogan.Com Ltd
(ASX:KGN) is paying 7.5 cents fully franked
Moelis Australia Ltd
(ASX:MOE) is paying 10 cents fully franked
Orora Limited
(ASX:ORA) is paying 6.5 cents 30% franked
Qantm Intellectual
(ASX:QIP) is paying 3.3 cents fully franked
Telstra Corporation
(ASX:TLS) is paying 5 cents fully franked
Telstra Corporation
(ASX:TLS) is paying 3 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:30 AM was buying 66.01 US cents, 50.78 Pence Sterling, 72.70 Yen and 60.66 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has lost 1.1 per cent to $90.83.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.5 per cent loss.
Gold has lost $24.90 to US$1662 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.72 to US$18.24 an ounce.
Oil was down $1.55 to US$49.88 a barrel.
