Dow & S&P post records: Aus shares to rise

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

The Australian share market is poised for another positive day of trade, after we saw more records broken on Wall Street. As for the major indices, the Dow Jones recorded it 9th straight record high close, and the S&P 500 notched a record high too, pushing past it's last record set on 26 July 2017. While the Nasdaq didn’t smash any records, it was the star performer of Monday’s session, rising over 0.5 per cent.

As for the driving force behind those gains, shares in Boeing and Goldman Sachs etched the most gains on the Dow, while Consumer Staples and Technology led. Energy however lagged behind as US Crude prices dipped almost 20 cents.

Taking all of those factors into consideration, we should see the local bourse rise slightly at the open

US economic news

US consumers increased their borrowing at a slower pace in June, according to The Federal Reserve. US consumer credit rose by $12.4 billion in June, that’s less than May’s $18.3 billion increase. It comes as the category that includes student and auto vehicle loans posted the smallest rise in a year. The report is also closely watched as an indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 per cent of economic activity.

Local economic news 

The NAB will release its business survey for July, with conditions are its best level in almost a decade.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.12 per cent to close at 22,118, the S&P 500 added 0.16 per cent to close at 2,481 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.51 per cent to close at 6,384.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE rose 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.1 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.3 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 0.5 per cent.

And back home, the Australian share market closed higher on Monday: At the closing bell, The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed about 53 points up or 0.9 per cent higher for the day at 5,774.

On the futures market the SPI is 12 points up.

Company news

Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) has again extended it takeover offer of Spotless Group (ASX:SPO) with its 7ths bidders statement. The engineering and infrastructure company currently holds 86.6 per cent in Spotless Group and is encouraging the remaining shareholders to accept the offer at $1.15 cash per shre. Downer’s takeover offer will now close on Monday 14 August 2017 at 7pm unless extended. Shares in Downer EDI (ASX:DOW) last traded at 2.37 per cent higher on Monday to $6.92.

Ex-dividends

One company is going ex-dividend today: Australian Foundation (ASX:AFI) is paying 14 cents fully franked.

To reporting season

6 top 200 companies are reporting their results today. We can watch out for:  IOOF Holdings (ASX:IFL), Janus Henderson Group (ASX:JHG), ALE Property Group (ASX:LEP), Reckon (ASX:RKN), Shopping Centres Australia (ASX:SCP) and Transurban(ASX:TCL).

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 79.14 US cents, 60.73 Pence Sterling, 87.66 Yen and 67.11 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has lost $1.20 to $US1,263 an ounce.
Silver is flat at $US16.25 an ounce.
And Oil has lost $0.27 to $US49.31 a barrel.

 

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