US stimulus talks linger: Aus shares to open flat

US stocks ended higher on Friday with major players in tech rallying, but the Australian share market looks set to open flat at the start of trade today, starting the week off on a quiet foot after closing 2 per cent lower at the closing bell on Friday and seeing a 1.6 per cent weekly loss.

The Nasdaq jumped 1.5 per cent by the close on Friday with many US companies reporting better than expected profit earnings. Apple was a standout, bumping up around 10.5 per cent following strong quarterly results earnings. However, there is still some overall uncertainty lingering as the US government is in talks over the US$1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package.

On the commodities front, gold continues to rally.

The SPI futures are pointing to a flat start. On Friday, the Australian share market lost 123 points to close at 5,928.

Local economic news
On Monday, AiG will release manufacturing performance for July and CoreLogic will have the July Home Value index. ANZ Job advertisements for July will also be released.
On Tuesday the RBA will meet to discuss economic forecasts, and the ABS will release retail and international trade figures for June.
Lending indicators and new vehicle sales figures will be released by the ABS on Wednesday.
On Friday, we can expect an economic update from the RBA with a statement on Monetary Policy.

Global figures
Wall Street closed higher on Friday, lifted by tech stocks: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 26,428, the S&P 500 added 0.8 per cent to close at 3271 and the NASDAQ closed 1.5 per cent higher at 10,745.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 1.5 per cent, Paris dropped 1.4 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.5 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed mixed, Nikkei lost 2.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.7 per cent.

Company news
Bunnings Warehouse landlord BWP Trust (ASX:BWP) is scheduled to release its full year results on Tuesday and look out for IAG (Insurance Australia Group) (ASX:IAG) on Friday when it will also will release its full-year results.

Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:35 AM was buying 71.35 US cents, 54.59 Pence Sterling, 75.48 Yen and 60.60 Euro cents.

Commodities
Iron Ore is flat at US$110.58.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 1.4 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $19.10 to US$1986 an ounce.
Silver was up $0.85 cents to US$24.22 an ounce.
Oil has added $0.35 to US$40.27 a barrel.
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Source: Finance News Network