UK PM Boris Johnson moved to intensive care due to coronavirus: ASX poised to open higher
Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher. All three major US indexes jumped higher yesterday after reported declines in new coronavirus deaths over the weekend. Spain and Italy announced the fewest deaths in more than two weeks, while New York posted its first single-day decline in new virus deaths on Saturday. Over in the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was moved to intensive care as his coronavirus symptoms worsened. On the commodities front, oil pared overnight losses after moves for Russia to sign a deal with Saudi Arabia to cut production.
Local economic news
Reserve Bank Board to meet
ABS February international trade
Markets
Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 7.7 per cent to close 22,680 the S&P 500 added 7.03 per cent to 2664 and the NASDAQ closed up 7.3 per cent to 7913.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE added 3.1 per cent, Paris gained 4.6 per cent and Frankfurt closed up 5.8 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 4.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.2 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was closed.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 2.4 per cent gain.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed almost 4.3 per cent higher at 5287.
Company news
Kalium Lakes (ASX:KLL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dale Champion as a non-executive Director of the Company. His finance career spans more than 25 years. He led a business for HSBC Bank Australia, before moving to the Commonwealth Bank where he was instrumental in the re-establishment of Agribusiness Banking across Australia and then founded CBA's corporate agriculture platform, Specialised Agri Solutions. He established Agrify, a private Australian based advisory firm, to specifically support large scale agricultural investors and industry participants, in 2010. He was also enlisted to assist in the Elders Limited turnaround. Kalium Lakes is an exploration and development company focused on developing the 100 per cent owned Beyondie Sulphate Of Potash Project (BSOPP) in Western Australia. Shares in Kalium Lakes (ASX:KLL) last traded at $0.49 after being suspended on the 24 Feb.
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 8:00 AM was buying 60.83 US cents, 49.75 Pence Sterling, 66.45 Yen and 56.38 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore was flat to $83.30.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.4 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $48.20 to US$1694 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.68 to US$15.17 an ounce.
Oil was down $2.26 to US$26.08 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
