The Australian share market looks set to open higher as President Donald Trump pushed for a comprehensive Covid-19 relief package, saying he would accept a deal worth more than $2.2 trillion. Back home the number of payroll jobs for Australians under 20 is rising above pre-coronavirus levels, but jobs for every other age group are on the decline. Those over 60 years have been hit the hardest regarding employment.
Economic NewsRetail trade preliminary October from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
MarketsWall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to 28,309, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to 3443 and the NASDAQ closed 0.3 per cent higher at 11,517.
European markets closed mixed, London’s FTSE added 0.1 per cent, Paris closed flat and Frankfurt closed 0.9 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.5 per cent higher.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.2 per cent gain.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.7 per cent lower at 6185.
Company newsDiversified New Zealand energy company Genesis Energy
(ASX:GNE) report that their retail segment performed strongly in the first quarter with total electricity sales volumes up 3.4 per cent on pcp, bottled LPG sales volumes up 5.3 per cent on pcp and netbacks up materially across all fuels. This was despite Small to Medium Enterprise sales volumes declining 6.6 per cent due to the Auckland lockdown. New Zealand hydro storage fell to 58 per cent of average before a recovery in September which resulted in Genesis back-up thermal generation being up 20 per cent on pcp. Shares in Genesis Energy
(ASX:GNE) closed 3.86 per cent higher at $2.96 yesterday.
Ex-DividendsAcrow Formwork
(ASX:ACF) is paying 1.05 cents fully franked
Sandon Capital Ltd
(ASX:SNC) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:50 AM was buying 70.46 US cents, 54.45 Pence Sterling, 74.35 Yen and 59.61 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore has added 0.1 per cent to US$119.61.
Iron Ore futures suggest 0.8 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $1.70 to US$1913 an ounce.
Silver was up $0.19 to US$24.89 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.63 to US$41.46 a barrel.
