Select Harvests (ASX:SHV) to snap up Piangil Almond Orchard: Aus shares tipped to open lower

Aussie shares are tipped to slide at the open following news that the US Republicans and the Democrats are still far from reaching a deal for a fiscal-stimulus package. Demand for oil prices has been dampened by oversupply fears, sluggish economic growth and a resurgence in Covid-19 cases in Europe.

Local economic news

Today we are expecting the Australian Bureau of Statistics to release final retail trade figures for the month of August, with investors expecting to see a 4.2 per cent rise, following July’s 3.2 per cent gain.

Markets

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to 27,817 the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent to 3381 and the NASDAQ closed 1.4 per cent higher at 11,327.

European markets closed mixed, London’s FTSE added 0.2 per cent, Paris added 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.2 per cent lower.

In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed for holidays, as China kicks off National Day commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China back in 1949.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.5 per cent fall.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed almost 1 per cent higher at 5873, getting off to a strong start for the fourth quarter and unwinding some of Wednesday’s losses.

Company news

Select Harvests (ASX:SHV) has agreed to purchase Piangil Almond Orchard for around $129 million, from United Almonds, Bright Light Agribusiness and Lake Lucas Almonds. The acquisition will be funded using a combination of new debt facilities and the proceeds from a $120 million fully underwritten entitlement offer and placement. The company’s managing director, Paul Thompson say the orchard “has demonstrated consistently high yields in recent years and is a top quartile orchard. The recent bloom at the orchard was strong, indicating the potential for another above industry average crop in 2021.”The acquisition is subject to customary conditions including ACCC approval. Shares in Select Harvest (ASX:SHV) closed 1.97 per cent lower at $5.46 yesterday.

Ex dividend

Prime Financial (ASX:PFG) is paying 0.25 cents fully franked
Perenti Global (ASX:PRN) is paying 3.5 cents fully franked
PTB Group (ASX:PTB) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:15 AM was buying 71.89 US cents, 55.70 Pence Sterling, 75.77 Yen and 61.15 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $16.20 to US$1912 an ounce.
Silver was up $0.43 to US$23.92 an ounce.
Oil was down $1.64 to US$38.58 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network