Trump evacuated from White House after a shooting outside: ASX to open flat
Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open flat this morning. The Dow rallied as the Nasdaq struggled somewhat with some big tech stocks slipping. President Donald Trump extended coronavirus relief. And we’ve just received some breaking news that President Donald Trump was evacuated from that press briefing due to a shooting outside of the White House.
Local economic news
Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages Week ending 25 July 2020.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.3 per cent to 27,791 the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to 3360 and the NASDAQ closed 0.4 per cent lower at 10,968.
European markets closed higher, London’s FTSE added 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.1 per cent higher.
Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.8 per cent higher.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a flat start.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 1.8 per cent higher at 6110.
Company news
James Hardie (ASX:JHX) released their results today showing management expects full-year adjusted net operating profit to be between US$330 million and US$390 million. For the second quarter of the financial year 2021, their North American guidance expects exteriors volume growth of between +7 per cent and +11 per cent and an Adjusted EBIT margin between 27 per cent and 29 per cent. In the first quarter, their Asia Pacific segment delivered robust financial returns with an Adjusted EBIT margin of 24.4 per cent, despite the impact of government-imposed shutdowns of two of its three core markets, New Zealand and the Philippines. The Australian business delivered strong results, with +1 per cent volume growth and Adjusted EBIT margin comparable to our North America segment. Shares in James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX) closed 0.33 per cent higher at $30.16 yesterday.
Reporting season
Other companies reporting today are Challenger (ASX:CGF), Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) and Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group (ASX:SCP)
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:55 AM was buying 71.50 US cents, 54.72 Pence Sterling, 75.74 Yen and 60.92 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore was flat at US$119.21.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 3.2 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $9.40 to US$2037 an ounce.
Silver was up $1.72 to US$29.26 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.77 to US$41.99 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
