Wall Street closes mixed on disappointing jobs data: Aus shares to open lower

Australian shares look set to open lower following an uneventful end to the week on Wall Street. US stocks closed little changed on Friday after the release of disappointing jobs data. In addition to the figures, President's Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow downplayed expectations for a speedy resolution of the US-China trade dispute.

US economic news

U.S. jobs growth fell short of expectations last month with nonfarm payrolls increasing by just 130 000. The increase fell short of Wall Street estimates of 150,000. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7 per cent as expected. Wage growth was solid with average hourly earnings increasing by 0.4 per cent for the month and 3.2 per cent over the year; both numbers were one-tenth of a percentage point better than expected.

Local economic news

In the coming week there will be more insights into the economic environment in terms of business conditions and consumer sentiment. he week kicks-off on todaywhen the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) issues new lending data for July. on Tuesday NAB’s August business survey is released. On Wednesday, monthly consumer confidence data is issued by Westpac and Melbourne Institute. Also on Wednesday, tourism data is released by the ABS. On Thursday, the Reserve Bank issues updated credit and debit card lending data for the month of July.
Markets

Markets

Wall Street closed mixed on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 per cent to close at 26,797, the S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to close at 2979 and the NASDAQ fell 0.2 per cent to 8103.

European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.2 per cent, Paris also gained 0.2 per cent and Frankfurt closed 0.5 per cent higher.

Asian markets closed higher on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed higher, up 0.5 per cent.

Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.1 per cent fall. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 34 points (0.5 per cent)higher at6647.

Company news

Blue Sky Alternatives Access Fund (ASX:BAF) has announced that a binding agreement has been executed to sell all of the interests in the Atira student accommodation portfolio(ASX:BAF) has announced that a binding agreement has been executed to sell all of the interests in the Atira student accommodation portfolio. Blue Sky has invested $24,517,627 across eight funds in the Atira student accommodation portfolio over the period since December 2014. The company expects an internal rate of return of 10.80 per cent, before tax and inclusive of fee rebates following the sale. Shares in Blue Sky Alternatives Access Fund (ASX:BAF) closed 2.4 per cent higher at $0.85 on Friday.

Ex-Dividends

Auswide Bank Ltd (ASX:ABA) is paying 18.5 cents fully franked
Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX:BGA) is paying 5.5 cents fully franked
Contango Income Generator Ltd (ASX:CIE) is paying 1 cent 50 per cent franked
Caltex Australia (ASX:CTX) is paying 32 cents fully franked
Cleanaway Waste Ltd (ASX:CWY) is paying 1.9 cents fully franked
EQT Holdings Ltd (ASX:EQT) is paying 46 cents fully franked
Idp Education Ltd (ASX:IEL) is paying 7.5 cents 45 per cent franked
Johns Lyng Group Ltd (ASX:JLG) is paying 3 cents fully franked
Mineral Resources Limited (ASX:MIN) is paying 31 cents fully franked
Over The Wire Ltd (ASX:OTW) is paying 2 cents fully franked
Thorney Opportunities Ltd (ASX:TOP) is paying 1.14 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 68.47 US cents, 55.79 Pence Sterling, 73.16 Yen and 62.11 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has lost 1.3 per cent to US$89.05
Iron Ore futures suggest a 2.9 per cent drop.
Gold has fallen$10.50 to US$1515 an ounce.
Silver was down 54 cents to US$18.27 an ounce.
Oil has gained $0.43 to US $56.73 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network