BHP to cut carbon emissions by 30% by FY2030: Aus shares to open lower
The pre-election political gridlock in the United States continues, as a new Republican stimulus package worth $US300 billion fails to advance through the Senate. Wall Street unwound early gains and ended in the red on broad-brushed profit taking. We saw a fresh selloff in US tech stocks on fears that valuations have been stretched too far during the five-month rally.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 1.8 per cent and the NASDAQ closed almost 2 per cent lower.
European markets closed lower, London’s FTSE fell 0.2 per cent, Paris lost 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.2 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.6 per cent lower.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 1.3 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.5 per cent higher at 5909.
Local economic news
We are expecting the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release annual overseas arrivals and departure figures for the year to July. Investors are expecting a 99 per cent decrease as travel bans continue across the nation.
Company news
Mining giant BHP (ASX:BHP) has announced a target to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 per cent by 2030. The company has also set targets across its supply chain, which include a 30 per cent reduction in the emissions of customers like steel mills and power plants, and a 40 per cent drop in emissions for chartered shipping. The company says it will strengthen the link between climate change performance and executive remuneration. Its 2020 Climate Change report provides insights into the performance of its portfolio in a transition to a 1.5°C world. The company will however continue to invest in oil and gas. Shares in BHP Group (ASX:BHP) closed 0.54 per cent higher at $36.98 yesterday.
Ex-dividend
A number of companies are going ex-dividend today:
Argo Global Ltd (ASX:ALI) is paying 4.5 cents fully franked
Cleanaway Waste Ltd (ASX:CWY) is paying 2.1 cents fully franked
Grange Resources (ASX:GRR) is paying 1 cent fully franked
Sequoia Financial Group Ltd (ASX:SEQ) is paying 0.4 cents fully franked
Veem Ltd (ASX:VEE) is paying 0.225 cents unfranked
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:15 AM was buying 72.61 US cents, 56.77 Pence Sterling, 77.10 Yen and 61.42 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore lost 0.4 per cent to US$126.09.
Iron Ore futures suggest a further 0.6 per cent fall.
Gold has lost $0.30 to US$1955 an ounce.
Silver was down $0.04 to US$27.05 an ounce.
Oil was down $1.03 to US$37.02 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
