Australians shares are set for a weaker start this morning after US Stocks fell for the first time in five days on Tuesday. The declines came as investors mulled over the latest news regarding U.S. coronavirus stimulus and treatments as well as the first corporate earnings reports. The major averages fell to their session lows at around 2:30pm after U.S. regulators paused Eli Lilly’s late-stage coronavirus trial due to safety concerns. The news follows Johnson & Johnson suspending its vaccine trial after an “adverse event” was reported. Eli Lilly shares fell 2.9 per cent and J&J slid 2.3 per cent. But it’s not all bad news, JPMorgan Chase reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter. Citigroup, also posted better-than-expected results for the previous quarter.
Meantime, Apple unveiled its first-ever 5G iPhone. shares in the company dropped 2.7 per cent, after rallying 6.4 per cent on Monday. Disney jumped 3.2 per cent after announcing a major company reorganization with streaming at the forefront of its business.
Economic newsThe ABS will release two reports: provisional overseas travel data for September and the June quarter building activity figures.
MarketsTo the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6 per cent to 28,680, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to 3512 and the NASDAQ closed 0.1 per cent lower at 11,864.
European markets closed lower, London’s FTSE lost 0.5 per cent, Paris fell 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.9 per cent lower.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite closed flat.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.9 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed over 1 per cent higher at 6196.
Company newsMichael Hill
(ASX:MHJ) has posted a 7.3 increase in same store sales for the first quarter of FY 21 when compared with the year earlier period. Digital sales sky rocketed 129 per cent versus the year earlier period. All store sales were down by 3.6 per cent for the quarter due to the temporary closure of 44 stores because of COVID-19. Shares in Michael Hill International
(ASX:MHJ) closed flat at $0.42 yesterday.
Ex-DivBrickworks Limited
(ASX:BKW) is paying 39 cents fully franked
Macmahon Holdings
(ASX:MAH) is paying 0.35 cents 30 per cent franked
PPK Group Limited
(ASX:PPK) is paying 1 cent fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 8:10 AM was buying 71.63 US cents, 55.39 Pence Sterling, 75.58 Yen and 60.99 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has lost 2.5 per cent to US$121.15.
Iron Ore futures suggest 0.6 per cent fall.
Gold has lost $33.90 to US$1895 an ounce.
Silver was down $1.07 to US$24.20 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.75 to US$40.18 a barrel.
