China’s travel ban extended due to coronavirus: ASX poised to open higher

Despite Wall St closing lower yesterday, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning after the World Health Organisation says new coronavirus cases have stablised – but warn that could change. China extended their travel ban by a week causing continued problems to Aussie businesses with connections in Asia. From Friday, foreign nationals who have been in mainland China will not be allowed to enter Australia for 14 days from the time they left. On the commodities front, safe haven gold added and oil was up.

Markets

Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4 per cent lower at 29,423, the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent to 3374 and the NASDAQ fell 0.1 per cent to 9712.

European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 1.1 per cent, Paris dropped 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.03 per cent.

Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.7 per cent and

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a flat start.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.2 per cent higher at 7103.

Company news
Global parking business Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) has been appointed to provide parking technology solutions at London Gatwick Airport, the UK’s second largest airport. After a comprehensive tender process, London Gatwick Airport and the Company have entered into a 5 year contract.The technology solution includes SmartSpot gateways which will relay live parking events to SmartCloud, the Company’s online smart city management platform. It is expected that the contract will generate approximately $2.4 million in revenue for the group across the life of the 5 year term. Shares in Smart Parking (ASX:SPZ) closed flat at $0.23 yesterday.

Ex-Dividends

Argo Investments (ASX:ARG) is paying 16 cents fully franked
G.U.D. Holdings (ASX:GUD) is paying 25 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:45 AM was buying 67.20 US cents, 51.53 Pence Sterling, 73.80 Yen and 62.01 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has gained 1 per cent to $88.56..
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.6 per cent gain.
Gold has added $8.10 to US$1580 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.12 to US$17.62 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.38 to US$51.79 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network