US Tax hike fears undermine upbeat data: Aus shares to open lower

Australian shares are tipped to open lower , following pessimistic sentiment from the US in response to multiple reports that President Joe Biden is set to raise taxes on high-income earners. Market pundits are predicting an increase of 19.6 per cent to 39.6 per cent in the capital gains tax rate for 7-figure earners to rejuvenate COVID-hit sectors of the US economy .

Data from the US Department of Labor indicated unemployment continued to retreat to a 13-month low, as first-time jobless claims dropped by 29000 and exceeded expectations. Stateside investors ignored upbeat data on earnings and employment to drive major indices on Wall Street south.

European markets bounced back from a few straight days in negative territory, as most benchmark indices climbed out of the red zone. The European Central Bank has decided to maintain its loose monetary stance for the time being till crunch talks in June, in order to support of member economies still battling with COVID-19.

Asian benchmark indices mostly followed the global rebound trend, as Japan’s Nikkei recouped some of the market’s 2 consecutive days of losses.

Economic news

On Friday, the IHS-Markit purchasing managers’ indexes for April are due which covers the manufacturing and services sectors for developed world economies.

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9 per cent to 33,816, the S&P 500 also fell 0.9 per cent to 4,135 and the NASDAQ closed 0.9 per cent lower at 13,818.

European markets closed higher, London’s FTSE added 0.6 per cent, Paris gained 0.9 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.8 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 2.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.2 per cent lower.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 0.8 per cent higher at 7055.

Company news

Logistics solutions provider Brambles (ASX:BXB) has reported an 8 per cent increase year on year in revenue in the first 3 quarters of FY21, benefitting from pandemic conditions and coronavirus-related speculation. A boom in home delivery activity and increased levels of contingency stocks in storage have boosted demand for Brambles’ containers, crates and pallets to $4.9 billion between July 2020 and March 2021. An estimated 330 million pallets and crates under the company’s ownership are utilised to mobilise goods from suppliers to store retailers and online distributors. Food and beverages businesses customers account for 80 per cent of Brambles’ sources of income. Shares in Brambles (ASX:BXB) closed 2.4 per cent higher at $10.66.

Ex-Div

MFF Capital Investments Ltd (ASX:MFF) is paying 3 cents fully franked

Turning to currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:50 AM was buying 77.10 US cents, 55.71 Pence Sterling, 83.24 Yen and 64.14 Euro cents.

To Commodities

Iron Ore has lost 2.4 per cent to US$183.62
Iron Ore futures are pointing to 0.7 per cent gain.
Gold has lost $11.10 to US$1782 an ounce.
Silver had fallen $0.39 to US$26.22 an ounce.
Oil was up $0.08 to US$61.43 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network