Wall Street ended on a high note with the Energy sector lifting. Apple is still tracking gains after its strong quarterly report last week. Retail saw some losses, such as Ralph Lauren dropping due to coronavirus-related store closures and a slowdown in global demand of luxury goods. Shares in Microsoft which is looking to buy TikTok fell. The US government stimulus package for coronavirus relief is still weighing in on investors.
In commodities, gold continues to be strong.
The Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning.
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 1.9 per cent higher at 6,038.
Local economic newsThe ABS will release home loan lending indicators for June and new vehicle sales figures for July.
Figures from around the globe Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6 per cent to 26,828 the S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 3307 and the NASDAQ closed 0.4 per cent higher at 10,941.
European markets closed mixed, London’s FTSE gained 0.1 per cent, Paris added 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.4 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.1 per cent higher.
Company newsWoolworths
(ASX:WOW) will shut its 22 BIG W stores in metropolitan Melbourne for six weeks as part of the Victorian Government’s forced closures of non-essential retail stories due to lockdown restrictions. Nine BIG W stores in regional Victoria will remain open, and all its 148 BIG W stores outside of Victoria continue to trade as normal. Shares in Woolworths Group
(ASX:WOW) closed 2.25 per cent higher at $39.92 yesterday.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:30 AM was buying 71.63 US cents, 54.82 Pence Sterling, 75.76 Yen and 60.71 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore gained 1.6% to US$117.88.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.2 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $50.80 to US$2037 an ounce.
Silver was up $1.83 to US$26.25 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.52 to US$41.53 a barrel.
