US GDP 32.9% record fall: Aus shares to open lower
The Australian share market is pointing towards a weaker start this morning as Wall Street retreated overnight. This comes after US President Donald Trump suggested delaying the presidential election in a Tweet.
Apple and Amazon released strong quarterly earnings. Apple saw an 11 per cent jump in sales for the quarter and Amazon also saw increased sales fueled by online shopping. However, Google’s parent company Alphabet announced its first revenue decline in its history, while still beating expectations.
On the commodities front, gold has dropped.
US economic news:
US gross domestic product fell 32.9% from April to June, the worst fall ever seen, the US Commerce Department reported. The economic slump was even worse than what was seen in the Great Depression, but the plummet wasn’t as bad as economists expected.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits over the last week came in at 1.43 million, the US Labor Department reported, which was in line with expectations due to the Covid-19 economic hit we are seeing.
ASX:
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.5 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.7 per cent higher at 6,051.
Local economic news:
The ABS will release the Producer Price Index and Private Sector Credit figures for June.
Figures from around the globe:
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9 per cent to 26,314, the S&P 500 fell 0.4 per cent to 3,246, and the NASDAQ closed 0.4 per cent higher at 10,588.
European markets closed lower, London’s FTSE fell 2.3 per cent, Paris lost 2.1 per cent and Frankfurt closed 3.5 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed lower, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7 and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.2 per cent lower.
Company news:
OceanaGold (ASX:OGC) saw a loss of $US57.4 million for the six months to 30 June 2020, and has cut its full year production guidance. The net loss is due to a 36 per cent loss in revenue and higher non-operational costs. Shares in OceanaGold (ASX:OGC) closed 6.14 per cent lower at $3.82 yesterday.
Currencies:
One Australian Dollar at 7:35 AM was buying 71.90 US cents, 54.98 Pence Sterling, 75.37 Yen and 60.74 Euro cents.
Commodities:
Iron Ore gained 1 cent to US$110.58.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.7 per cent fall.
Gold has lost $3.60 to US$1973 an ounce.
Silver was down $0.70 to US$23.62 an ounce.
Oil was down $0.94 to US$40.33 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
