Brisbane enters three-day lockdown: ASX poised to open higher

The Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning as the Dow ended the day slightly up. Over in Britain, England has eased their coronavirus lockdown as Covid-19 infections drop to a six-month low. Greater Brisbane has entered its first full day in lockdown. Border restrictions have been put in place by all of Australia's other jurisdictions for the state. The move comes after a Covid-19 cluster involving the highly contagious UK strain was discovered involving seven people.

Local economic news

Weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer sentiment index and fortnightly update on payroll jobs and wages figures from the Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Markets

Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 33,171, the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent to 3971 and the NASDAQ closed 0.6 per cent lower at 13,060.

European markets closed mixed, London’s FTSE fell 0.1 per cent, Paris gained 0.5 per cent and Frankfurt also closed 0.5 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed flat and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.5 per cent higher.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.7 per cent gain.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.4 per cent lower at 6799.

Company news

Infratil (ASX:IFT) has approved the on-market acquisition of $20 million of Infratil shares on behalf of certain Morrison & Co executives and Morrison & Co. The shares to be acquired for Morrison & Co executives are subject to a lock-up between Morrison & Co and the executives of between 12 and 24 months. Mark Tume, Infratil’s Chairperson, said that “ it is a vote of confidence in Infratil’s recent performance and demonstrates their conviction in the long term growth prospects of the Infratil portfolio”. Shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) closed 0.79 per cent higher at $6.41 yesterday.

Ex-Dividends

APN Industria REIT (ASX:ADI) is paying 4.35 cents unfranked
Atlas Arteria Group (ASX:ALX) is paying 13 cents unfranked
Australian Unity Office Fund (ASX:AOF) is paying 3.75 cents unfranked
APN Convenience Retail REIT (ASX:AQR) is paying 5.475 cents unfranked
Arena REIT No 1 (ASX:ARF) is paying 3.725 cents unfranked
Aventus Group (ASX:AVN) is paying 4.9 cents unfranked
Ammaysim Australia Ltd (ASX:AYS) is paying 26 cents fully franked
Centuria Industrial Reit (ASX:CIP) is paying 4.25 cents unfranked
Charter Hall Long WALE REIT (ASX:CLW) is paying 7.3 cents unfranked
Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) is paying 1.625 cents unfranked
Centuria Office REIT (ASX:COF) is paying 4.125 cents unfranked
Cosol Limited (ASX:COS) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX:CQE) is paying 4.1 cents unfranked
Elanor Commercial Property Fund (ASX:ECF) is paying 2.48 cents unfranked
Gryphon Capital Income Trust (ASX:GCI) is paying 0.75 cents unfranked
Garda Diversified Property Fund (ASX:GDF) is paying 1.8 cents unfranked
Global Value Fund Ltd (ASX:GVF) is paying 3 cents fully franked
HomeCo Daily Needs REIT (ASX:HDN) is paying 2.425 cents unfranked
Intega Group Limited (ASX:ITG) is paying 1 cent unfranked
Kkr Credit Income Fund (ASX:KKC) is paying 2.5 cents unfranked
Kirkland Lake Gold (ASX:KLA) is paying 20.4 cents unfranked
Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ) is paying 5.1583 cents unfranked
Maas Group Holdings (ASX:MGH) is paying 2 cents fully franked
Perpetual Credit Income Trust (ASX:PCI) is paying 0.3022 cents unfranked
Qualitas Real Estate Income Fund (ASX:QRI) is paying 0.8163 cents unfranked
Redcape Hotel Group (ASX:RDC) is paying 1.83 cents unfranked
Rural Funds Group (ASX:RFF) is paying 2.8203 cents unfranked
360 Capital Group Ltd (ASX:TGP) is paying 1 cent unfranked
360 Capital REIT (ASX:TOT) is paying 1.5 cents unfranked
WPP Aunz Ltd (ASX:WPP) is paying 4.4 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:00 AM was buying 76.32 US cents, 55.50 Pence Sterling, 83.84 Yen and 64.89 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has gained 4.1 per cent to US$167.88
Iron Ore futures are pointing to 1.8 per cent fall.
Gold has lost $22.80 to US$1712 an ounce.
Silver was down $0.39 to US$24.72 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.67 to US$61.64 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network