Dow drops more than 250pts to end the week: Aus shares set for soft open

The local sharemarket looks set to dip at the open after Wall Street fell by up to 1 per cent on Friday. The Dow Jones dropped sharply, weighed down by shares in in Johnson & Johnson which slid by 6.2 per cent after the company recalled baby powder products upon finding traces of asbestos. Meantime, Boeing fell by 6.8 per cent on wire reports that it misled the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was dealt another blow to his Brexit plans The UK House of Commons voted 322-306 to withhold approval of the Prime Minister's Brexit deal until necessary implementing legislation has been passed. The PM has requested that the European Union grant an extension to the October 31 leaving date.

Oil prices fell on Friday, as concerns about China’s economy outweighed positive signals from its refining sector, but losses were limited on hopes for progress toward a U.S.-China trade agreement.

Local economic news

The week kicks off on Wednesday when the Department of Employment issues the skilled job vacancies report for September. On Thursday, the Commonwealth Bank, in conjunction with Markit, releases October ‘flash’ (or early) estimates on activity in the manufacturing and services sectors and the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases detailed labour force estimates for September. Rounding out the week on Friday the ABS releases annual national accounts.

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.95 per cent to close at 26,770, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to close at 2986 and the NASDAQ retreated 0.8 per cent to 8090.

European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE dropped 0.4 per cent, Paris lost 0.7 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 1.3 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.2 per cent fall. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 35 points (0.5 per cent) lower at 6650.

Company news

Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) has rejected the attack on its business by short-selling hedge fund J Capital Research. Founder & CEO, Richard White said the company’s financials, revenue, profit, growth rates and product have all been verified comprehensively and form part of the external independent audits conducted annually. He also urged Australian regulators to step in. WiseTech’s shares took a 13 per cent hit on Thursday, and were put in a trading halt after a scathing report from J Capital. Shares in Wisetech Global (ASX:WTC) last traded at $30 on Thursday.

Ex-Dividends

Katana Capital (ASX:KAT) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC) is paying 9 cents fully franked
Sandon Capital Ltd (ASX:SNC) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:45 AM was buying 68.49 US cents, 52.91 Pence Sterling, 74.23 Yen and 61.38 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has lost 0.8 per cent to US$86.36.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.5 per cent gain.

Gold has dropped $4.20 to US$1494 an ounce.
Silver was down 3 cents to US$17.58 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.15 to US$53.78 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network