The Australian share market looks set to open flat following mostly negative leads from Wall Street. Despite the earlier gains, the Dow Jones, The S&P and the Nasdaq all closed in the red after a key health vote on a republican-led health-care bill was delayed.
The Dow was dragged down by losses in UnitedHealth, while health care and energy led the decliners on the S&P 500. The S&P traded almost 0.5% higher in the session, but lost steam and closed 0.1% lower.
The Australian dollar lost 0.6%, while Gold has fallen and Silver, Copper are higher.
US economic news nowUS new-home sales climbed to a seven-month high in February. Purchases of new homes rose 6.1% to a 592,000 annualised pace, beating expectations of a rise to a 564,000 rate. The surge in ahead tells us that the housing market recovery is definitely gaining momentum, despite higher prices and mortgage rates.
Markets Wall Street closed lower: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flat to close at 20,657, the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent to close at 2,346 and the NASDAQ lost 0.1 per cent to close at 5,818.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE gained 0.2 per cent, Paris rose 0.8 per cent and Frankfurt gained 1.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is flat and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.1 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher on Thursday: At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 23 points up to finish at 5,708.
On the futures market the SPI is 5 points up.
Company news IMF Bentham Limited
(ASX:IMF) has announced it has expanded its operations into Asia. The litigation funding company established its first Asian office in Singapore, which will service both the Singaporean and Hong Kong markets. IMF Bentham says these markets and the broader Asia-Pacific region are significant growth opportunities for the business. The office is set to open in April 2017 and will be headed by up Tom Glasgow. Shares in IMF Bentham Limited
(ASX:IMF) last traded 1.66% lower at $1.78
Ex-dividendsTwo companies are going ex-dividend today:
Myer Holdings Limited
(ASX:MYR) is paying 3 cents fully franked.
Saunders International Limited
(ASX:SND) is paying 1 cent fully franked.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 76.28 US cents, 60.92 Pence Sterling, 84.67 Yen and 70.73 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has lost $4.30 to $US1,249 an ounce.
Silver has gained 2 cents $17.60.
Oil has lost 35 cents to $US47.69 a barrel.
