CBA appoints Simon Moutter to board: Aus shares to open higher
The Australian share market is set to open higher this morning after Wall Street rebounded on Friday. The local market lost 1.9 per cent in our last trading session of the week and ended its 6-week winning streak, after the US share markets suffered their worst day since March on Thursday. US shares sunk after a rise in US Covid-19 infection rates sparked fears of a second wave. The US Federal Reserve didn’t help, releasing dour guidance on the economic outlook. Despite this, the US share market rose on Friday after our local market closed, with the Dow gaining 477 points. Technology and financial stocks led the recovery. Coronavirus developments will be front and centre this week, with a raft of economic news on the agenda.
US economic news
US consumer sentiment perked up in June according to the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index. The index increased from 72.3 in May up to a reading of 78.9 in June. This step in the right direction followed the reopening of the economy and the surprising uptick in hiring we saw early last week.
Local economic news
Today, we are expecting the tourist arrivals and departures figures for April. On Tuesday the Commonwealth Bank will release data on Household Spending for the month of May. The Reserve Bank of Australia will also release its board minutes. We will also see the Australian Bureau of Statistics release weekly payroll figures. Also on Tuesday, the ABS will release its residential property price indexes for Australia's capital cities, based on March quarter data. On Thursday the ABS will release population data for the December quarter and employment statistics for the month of May, with labour force data expected to show further deterioration. To finish out the week on Friday, the ABS will release preliminary retail trade figures for the month of May.
Markets
Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.9 per cent, the S&P 500 added 1.3 per cent and the NASDAQ rose just over 1 per cent to 9,589.
European markets closed mixed. London’s FTSE added 0.5 per cent, Paris also gained 0.5 per cent while Frankfurt closed 0.2 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed lower, Nikkei fell 0.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.04 per cent lower.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.4 per cent gain.
Company news
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) has appointed Simon Moutter as an Independent, Non-Executive Director with effect from 1 September 2020. Simon joins the board after his shock resignation last year from New Zealand telco giant, Spark. He was the former Managing Director of Spark New Zealand for 7 years and has a background in technology, process effectiveness, business strategy and engineering. Shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) closed 1.64 per cent lower at $67.32 on Friday.
TBG Diagnostic‘s subsidiary (ASX:TDL) has received an Emergency Use Authorisation from the United States Food and Drug Administration for its COVID19 Nucleic Acid Test Kits. The kits are used to confirm active infection of the covid virus using respiratory samples. This test is manufactured by TBG Biotechnology Corp. in Taiwan and will be exported from Taiwan for use in laboratoriesShares in TBG Diagnositcs (ASX:TDL) last traded at 27 cents on 17th of March.
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:30 AM was buying 68.44 US cents, 54.67 Pence Sterling, 73.50 Yen and 60.89 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore has gained 1.2 per cent to US$105.02.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 3.3 per cent gain.
Gold has lost $2.50 to US$1737 an ounce.
Silver was down $0.41 cents to US$17.48 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.08 to US$36.26 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
