Wall Street plunges on coronavirus sell-off: ASX set to open lower
The Australian share market looks set to open lower this after a disastrous day on Wall Street due to the coronavirus impact. The Dow Jones has closed down almost 13 per cent, the biggest one-day fall in percentage terms since the 1987 stock market crash. US President Donald Trump has warned of a recession.and suggested the worst of the coronavirus could not be over by July or August.
Local economic news
ABS
Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities, December 2019.
RBA board meeting minutes
Markets
Wall Street plunged yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 13 per cent to close at 20,189, the S&P 500 shed 12 per cent to 2386 and the NASDAQ lost 12 per cent to 6905.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost 4 per cent, Paris fell 5.8 per cent and Frankfurt shed 5.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 2.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 4 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 3.4 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 4.1 per cent fall.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 9.7 per cent lower at 5002.
Company news
Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is working with the Government of Mongolia to ensure Oyu Tolgoi is operating in accordance with the restrictions the Mongolian authorities have put in place to contain the spread of COVID-19. Since January the movement of goods and people within Mongolia have been restricted within and across its border and this has further escalated recently as the first case of COVID-19 has occurred in the country. Work on the Underground Project continues, however, progress is being slowed as a result of these measures. The full impact of the slowdown on the Underground Project is unknown at this time and the company will update the market once more information is available. Shares in Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) closed 4.23 per cent lower at $77.65 yesterday.
Ex-Dividends
Absolute Equity Perf (ASX:AEG) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Genesis Energy Ltd (ASX:GNE) is paying 7.8755 cents unfranked
PPK Group Limited (ASX:PPK) is paying 1 cents fully franked
Pwr Holdings Limited (ASX:PWH) is paying 1.9 cents fully franked
Reece Limited (ASX:REH) is paying 6 cents fully franked
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:45 AM was buying 61.13 US cents, 49.97 Pence Sterling, 64.75 Yen and 54.71 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore has fallen 0.1 per cent to $90.88.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.5 per cent gain.
Gold has shed $14.30 to US$1502 an ounce.
Silver has lost $1.75 to US$12.75 an ounce.
Oil was down $3.14 to US$28.59 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
