The British pound slumps on fears of a hard Brexit: ASX poised to open higher

18Dec

The British pound slumps on fears of a hard Brexit: ASX poised to open higher

 

Following soft leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. European stocks were mixed and over in the UK the pound fell more than 1 per cent yesterday after reports said that the British government will block a delay to the post-Brexit transition period.

Local economic news

ABS, Dwelling prices third quarter

Westpac leading index November

Markets

Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1 per cent higher at 28,267, the S&P 500 closed flat, up 0.03 per cent at 3193 and the NASDAQ added 0.1 per cent to 8823.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE added 0.1 per cent, Paris fell 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt dropped 0.9 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 1.3 per cent higher.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed flat, 2 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 6847.

Company news 

Infratil (ASX:IFT) today announced that Chief Executive Vince Hawksworth will be leaving Trustpower after almost ten years in the role. Infratil is the 51 per cent shareholder in Trustpower. Vince is leaving the company to take up the role of Chief Executive at Mercury (ASX:MCY). Shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) closed flat at $4.77 yesterday.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:35 AM was buying 68.54 US cents, 52.20 Pence Sterling, 75.04 Yen and 61.49 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has gained 3 cents to US$94.07.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.5 per cent fall.
Gold has added $0.50 to US$1481 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.05 to US$17.07 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.32 to US$60.53 a barrel.
 
Copyright 2019 – Finance News Network


Source: Finance News Network

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