Global coronavirus cases hit a daily record this week: ASX poised to open higher

21May

Global coronavirus cases hit a daily record this week: ASX poised to open higher

 

After a tech rally on US markets overnight, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. Facebook shares surged up 6 per cent, Amazon rose as did Apple and Google. Meanwhile, the number of newly reported coronavirus cases worldwide hit a daily record this week with more than 100,000 new cases over the last 24 hours, according to the World Health Organization. US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw altogether from the World Health Organization, saying he will permanently withdraw funding.

Markets 

Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.52 per cent to close at 24,576, the S&P 500 added 1.67 per cent to close at 2972 and the NASDAQ closed 2.08 per cent higher at 9376.

European markets closed higher London’s FTSE gained 1.1 per cent, Paris added 0.9 per cent and Frankfurt closed 1.3 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 0.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.5 per cent lower.

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

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.2 per cent higher at 5573.

Company news

Fonterra Co-operative's (ASX:FSF) profit has soared but the New Zealand forecast for the farmgate milk price range has narrowed showing uncertainty about global markets. The opening 2020/21 forecast farmgate milk price range is NZ$5.40 to NZ$6.90 per kgMS. Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell says despite COVID-19 challenges, the Co-operative’s total group normalised Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) for the nine months to 30 April is $815 million, an increase of $301 million on this time last year. While the consumer business benefited from a spike in sales as people stockpiled and bought food to cook at home, this was not sustained through the COVID-19 lockdowns. Shares in Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund (ASX:FSF) closed 1.2 per cent higher at $3.40 yesterday.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:35 AM was buying 65.96 US cents, 53.91 Pence Sterling, 70.96 Yen and 60.10 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore is 1.4 per cent lower at US$96.95.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.4 per cent fall.
Gold has gained $5.80 to US$1751 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.16 to US$18.07 an ounce.
Oil was up $1.56 to US$33.52 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network


Source: Finance News Network

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