The local sharemarket looks set to push higher this morning following a record breaking week for Wall Street. US Stocks rose on Friday after strong earnings from tech giants like Alphabet and Intel pushed the S&P 500 to a new all-time high. Shares in Alphabet rose almost 10 per cent while twitter popped almost 9 per cent on the back of second-quarter results that topped estimates.
US economic newsThe US economy slowed to 2.1 per cent annual Gross Domestic Product in the June quarter despite consumers stepping up their spending. The result is down from 3.1 per cent in the first quarter. And it falls far short of the 3 percent target that President Trump has repeatedly promised. But consumer spending, which drives about 70 per cent of economic activity, accelerated to a sizzling 4.3 per cent after a lackluster 1.1 per cent annual gain in the January-March quarter, boosted in particular by auto sales.
Local economic newsToday CommSec releases the quarterly State of the States report. On Tuesday, the ABS releases the June data on building approvals. On Wednesday, Australia’s main inflation measure – the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – is duefor release. On Thursday the ABS releases the June quarter international price indexes (export and import prices). And on Fridaythe June quarter producer price indexes and June figures on retail trade.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent to close at 27,192, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to close at 3026 and the NASDAQ rose 1.1 per cent to 8330.
European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.8 per cent, Paris added 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt was up 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.2 per cent.
Returning home, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.3 per cent gain. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 25 points (0.4 per cent) lower at 6793.
Company newsSpotless Group
(ASX:SPO) has announced that trading in the Company’s shares will be suspended from 27 August 2019 and the Company will be removed from the official list of ASX on 30 August 2019. The company announced plans to delist last month in order to minimise expenditure and reduce costs. Shares in Spotless Group
(ASX:SPO) closed 2.1 per cent lower at $1.65 on Friday.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 69.11 US cents, 55.87 Pence Sterling, 75.12 Yen and 62.12 Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.7 per cent gain
Gold has added $4.70 to US$1432 an ounce.
Silver was down 1 cent to US$16.40 an ounce.
Oil has added $0.18 to US$56.20 a barrel.