US markets rise to record highs for 2020: ASX to open lower

The Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning despite the US markets rising to record highs for 2020. Both the Dow Jones and S&P500 rose to their peak within the last hour of trade, while back home the number of Covid-19 cases rose with state and territory border restrictions in place.

Local economic

Tomorrow, ANZ will release its December data on job advertisements. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank will release its monthly Chart Pack publication. On Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will issue its first report on Building Approvals and International Trade.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7 per cent to close at 30,606, the S&P 500 closed 0.6 per cent higher at 3,756 and the NASDAQ closed 0.1 per cent higher to 12,888.

European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 1.5 per cent, Paris lost 0.9 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.3 per cent lower.

Asian markets closed mixed on their last trading days: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.7 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a fall of 80 points. On Thursday the Australian share market closed 1.4 per cent lower or 95 points lower at 6,587.

Ex-dividends

There are companies going ex dividend today including Climb Capital (ASX:CAM) paying 1.175 cents fully franked, East 72 Holding (ASX:E72) paying 1 cent fully franked.

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 77.16 US cents, 56.51 Pence Sterling, 79.56 Yen and 63.10 Euro cents.
 
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Source: Finance News Network