Wall St slips on US-China trade deal doubts: Aus shares to follow lower

The local sharemearket is set to open lower after Wall Street slipped on new concerns around a US China trade agreement. US stocks stalled as doubts emerged around the proposed phase 1 deal between the US and China. As part of the deal China would buy between $40 billion and $50 billion in U.S. agricultural products. China also agreed to address intellectual-property concerns raised by the U.S. In return, the U.S. agreed to hold off on a tariff hike scheduled for this week.

Investors also braced for the start of the earnings season, with a slew of major banks set to report tomorrow. including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.

Oil prices fell sharply on Monday on the back of a lack of details about the of the proposed trade deal.

Local economic news

Today the minutes of the last Reserve Bank Board meeting are issued. This was the meeting where the Board decided to cut rates to all-time lows. Investors are keen to know whether further rate cuts can be expected this year. (ABS) releases the Overseas Arrivals and Departures.
Markets

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 26,787, the S&P 500 closed 0.1 per cent lower at 2966 and the NASDAQ fell 0.1 per cent to 8049.

European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.5 per cent, Paris dipped 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt was down 0.2 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.8 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.2 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.5 per cent fall.

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 36 points (0.5%) higher at 6643.

Company news

Australia’s largest airline, Qantas (ASX:QAN) has announced that it is once again in a position to qualify for inclusion in the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes based on its most recent foreign ownership reconciliation. Foreign persons now hold relevant interests of around 35.78 per cent in the issued share capital of Qantas.
Shares in Qantas (ASX:QAN) closed 2.36 per cent higher at $6.50 yesterday.

Ex – Dividend

Contrarian Value Fund Ltd (ASX:CVF) is paying 5 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 67.75 US cents, 53.96 Pence Sterling, 73.45 Yen and 61.48 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has fallen 2.4 per cent to US$91.49.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 3.2 per cent fall.
Gold has gained $7.60 to US$1496 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.13 cents to US$17.68 an ounce.
Oil has lost $1.27 to US$53.43 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network