Trump says no to reducing Chinese tariffs: ASX poised to open higher

Wall Street continued their gains towards the end of the week, now the ASX looks set to start the week higher. Stocks rose on the optimism that President Donald Trump could scrap tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump and the Chinese President Xi Jinping are looking to finalise a ‘phase one’ trade deal. Trump says he has not agreed to roll back tariffs.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.02 per cent to close at 27,681, the S&P 500 gained 0.3 per cent to close at 3093 and the NASDAQ rose 0.5 per cent to 8475.

European markets closed lower on Friday: London’s FTSE fell 0.6 per cent, Paris lost 0.02 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.5 per cent lower.

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.5 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.4 per cent gain. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 3 points (0.04 per cent) lower at 6724.

Local Economic News

Wednesday ABS Wage Price Index, September 2019.

Thursday Labour Force, October 2019

Also on Thursday this week there will be Panel participation by Michele Bullock, Assistant Governor (Financial System), at the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia.

Company news

Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) has completed the acquisition of Imaging Queensland. The move was first announced to the market on 26 August 2019. Integral Diagnostics (IDX) is a leading provider of medical imaging services across Australia and New Zealand. The Company provides state of the art diagnostic services to patients and their referrers at 67 radiology clinics, including 21 hospital sites. IDX employs some of Australasia’s leading radiologists and nuclear medicine specialists. Shares in Integral Diagnostics (ASX:IDX) closed 2.8 per cent lower to $3.51 on Friday.

Ex-Dividends

ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) is paying 80 cents 70 per cent franked
Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) is paying 250 cents 40 per cent franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 68.61 US cents, 53.66 Pence Sterling, 74.91 Yen and 62.25 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has lost 3.7 per cent to US$80.11.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.8 per cent fall.
Gold has dropped $3.50 to US$1463 an ounce.
Silver was down 19 cents to US$16.82 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.09 to US$57.24 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network