Gold prices take a tumble: ASX to open higher

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

The Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning as the US is preparing for more stimulus measures to help combat economic hardship brought on due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gold prices tumbled on Friday as the US dollar rebounded sharply and US yields surged. Iraq raised pricing for all crude sales to Asia for February, after a similar move by Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer.

Economic News

Today the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release figures for retail sales for November. On Wednesday the ABS will release job vacancies for November and engineering construction activity for September. On Thursday we are set to see figures for building approvals and on Friday we finish the week with lending indicators for November.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to 31,098, the S&P 500 closed 0.6 per cent higher to 3,825 and the NASDAQ closed 1.03 per cent higher at 13,202.

European markets closed higher, London’s FTSE gained 0.2 per cent, Paris added 0.7 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.6 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 2.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.2 per cent lower.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 7 point rise.

On Friday, the Australian share market closed 0.7 per cent higher or 46 points higher at 6,758.

Company news

New Zealand retirement developer the Summerset Group (ASX:SNZ) reports 296 sales of occupation rights for the quarter ending 31 December 2020. That’s comprising 176 new sales and 120 resales. This was the strongest quarter sales result in Summerset’s 23-year history. Casebrook (Christchurch), Ellerslie (Auckland) and Rototuna (Hamilton) retirement villages were the standout performers in Q4. Shares in the Summerset Group (ASX:SNZ) closed 0.3 per cent lower at $11.76.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:00 AM was buying 77.63 US cents, 57.32 Pence Sterling, 80.60 Yen and 63.60 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures are pointing to a fall of 2.6 per cent.
Gold has lost $78.20 to US$1,835 an ounce.
Silver was fell $2.62 to US$24.64 an ounce.
Oil was up $1.41 to US$52.24 a barrel.


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