Restaurant Brands New Zealand (ASX:RBD) buy 70 KFC stores in California: ASX set to open lower

The Australian share market looks set to open ower this morning. There is no local data expected for this week as businesses slow down for the Christmas break. On Friday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said the “phase one” trade deal is beneficial to both China and the US and the whole world. President Donald Trump that they had a “very good talk,” and that China has started “large scale” purchases of US agricultural products and a formal deal signing is being arranged.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 26 points fall. on Friday the Australian share market closed higher/lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 17 points lower at 6816.

Markets

Wall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3 per cent to close at 28,455, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to close at 3,221 and the NASDAQ closed 0.4 per cent to close at 8925.

European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 0.1 per cent, Paris added 0.8 per cent and Frankfurt also closed 0.8 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.4 per cent.

Company news 

Restaurant Brands New Zealand (ASX:RBD) has today entered into an asset purchase agreement with a KFC US franchisee for the purchase of 70 stores in Southern California, USA. The purchase comprises 59 KFC stores and 11 combined KFC and Taco Bell stores, together with a head office facility. Restaurant Brands will be offering continued employment to all 1,100 part time and 500 full time staff currently employed by the franchisee. The transaction is for a purchase price of $US73 million. Shares in Restaurant Brands New Zealand (ASX:RBD) last traded at $8.80.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:45AM was buying 69.00 US cents, 53.11 Pence Sterling, 75.52 Yen and 62.27 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.2 per cent rise.
Gold has lost $3.50 to US$1481 an ounce.
Silver has gained $0.07 to US$17.22 an ounce.
Oil has fallen by $0.74 to US$60.44 a barrel.
 
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Source: Finance News Network