Sterling soars amid Brexit deal hopes: ASX set to open higher
Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher. It was good news in the US as stocks hit four-week highs. Healthcare and financials led the gains. The UK saw the sterling soar to a four-month high as the Brexit deadline of October 31st draws close. No agreement has yet been made for how the UK will leave the EU. The jobs market in the UK dropped – it saw the biggest decline since 2015. On the commodities front, gold has lost over $13 and oil is also down amid a weak outlook for the global economy.
US economic news
US retail sales September
Local economic news
WBC leading index for September
Markets
Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.89 per cent to close at 27025, the S&P 500 closed 1.00 per cent higher at 2996 and the NASDAQ gained 1.2 per cent to 8149.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.03 per cent, Paris added 1.04 per cent and Frankfurt has gained 1.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 1.9 per cent higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.07 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.56 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.77 per cent rise.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 9 points (0.5%) higher at 6652.
Company news
Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) yesterday launched a new sustainability website to provide updates on areas critical to the Group’s performance. In his welcome message to the website, Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott said the company had remained focused on the long term throughout its 105-year history, and its core objective since publicly listing in 1984 has been to deliver satisfactory returns to shareholders over the long term. Shares in Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) closed 0.33 per cent lower at $39.53 yesterday.
Ex – Dividend
Genesis Energy Ltd (ASX:GNE) is paying 7.9 cents unfranked
Plato Income Maximiser (ASX:CPL8) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:35 AM was buying 67.56 US cents, 52.87 Pence Sterling, 73.54 Yen and 61.24 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.9 per cent rise.
Gold has lost $13.10 to US$1485 an ounce.
Silver has dropped $0.29 cents to US$17.42 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.70 to US$52.95 a barrel.
Copyright 2019 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
