Oil stabilises on de-escalating Middle East tensions: Aus shares to open higher
Australian futures are indicating a positive start to the session following strong performances from US markets overnight as tensions in the Middle East ease. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P500 and the Nasdaq all reached intraday record highs. Oil has stabilised, only losing 1 cent, on news that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have improved.
Local economic news
We are expecting that the Australian Bureau of Statistics to release retail trade figures for the month of November. After seeing a flat month in October, the market anticipates a 0.4 per cent increase in November, as a result of pre-Christmas spending and successful online sales during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. We are also expecting Ai Group to release its services index for the month of December.
Markets
Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.7 per cent higher at 28,957, the S&P 500 gained 0.7 per cent to 3275 and the NASDAQ climbed 0.8 per cent to 9203.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt lifted 1.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei advanced 2.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.9 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 14 point rise.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 57 points higher at 6874.
Company news
Retirement villages operator, Summerset Group (ASX:SNZ), has released its sales for the quarter ending 31 December 2019. Of the 209 sales it made for the quarter, 116 were new sales (rather than resales). Summerset CEO Julian Cook says this is the strongest quarter for new sales that the company has seen in three years and the second highest ever recorded in the group’s history. Strong sales in Summerset’s three newly opened villages in Avonhead, Richmond and Kenepuru boosted the company’s performance for the quarter. Shares in Summerset Group (ASX:SNZ) last traded at $8.00.
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 8:45 AM was buying 69.42 US cents, 52.73 Pence Sterling, 75.25 Yen and 62.01 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore lost $1.85 to US$94.37.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1 per cent fall.
Gold has lost $7.60 to US$1,553 an ounce.
Silver has retreated 25 cents to US$17.92 an ounce.
Oil has fallen 1 cent to US$59.60 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
