Wall Street posts uneventful end to the week: Aus shares for flat start

01Sep

Wall Street posts uneventful end to the week: Aus shares for flat start

 

Australian shares look set to begin the week little changed following an uneventful session on Wall Street on Friday. Trade was relatively thin as investors took a step back after a volatile month of trading. The major indexes posted their worst monthly performance since May on the back of intensifying US China trade tensions throughout the month.

President Donald Trump’s new wave of tariffs on around $US110 billion ($166bn) of Chinese goods kicked off yesterday. In retaliation, China has imposed a 5 per cent tariff on crude oil and is rolling out tariffs on an additional $US75bn of US goods.

US economic news

U.S. consumer sentiment fell the most in six years, slumping to the lowest level of Donald Trump’s presidency as Americans expressed concern about how his tariffs will affect the economy.
Separately on Friday, data showed U.S. personal spending accelerated more than expected in July, indicating household consumption remained solid at the start of the third quarter.

Local economic news

The week kicks off today with a raft of economic indicators. Leading the way is the Business Indicators publication from the ABS. The CoreLogic home value index will also get plenty of attention with home prices rising again in August. Also out today figures on job ads are released. On Tuesday the Reserve Bank holds its monthly meeting. No change in rates is expected. Also on Tuesday, the June quarter government finance statistics are released. And on Wednesday, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) is expected to release the August data on new car sales.

Markets

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed mixed on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 per cent to close at 26,403, the S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to close at 2926 and the NASDAQ fell 0.1 per cent to 7963.

European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt was up 0.9 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.2 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 97 points (1.5 per cent)higher at 6604.

Company news

Food franchisor Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG) has more than halved its full-year 19 loss to $149 million as it continues its recovery mission. Total revenue fell by 6.5 per cent to $350 million as the company closed 173 stores during the year. Retail Food Group says a new product and marketing strategy that will deliver a rolling pipeline of 62 new campaigns over the next 12-18 months has commenced for franchisees. Shares in Retail Food Group (ASX:RFG) closed 5.41 per cent lower at $0.18 on Friday.

Ex-Dividends

Australian United Investment Company Ltd (ASX:AUI) is paying 19 cents fully franked
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Ltd (ASX:BEN) is paying 35 cents fully franked
Credit Intelligence Ltd (ASX:CI1) is paying 0.05 cents unfranked
Duxton Water Ltd (ASX:D2O) is paying 2.7 cents fully franked
Diversified United Investment Limited (ASX:DUI) is paying 8.5 cents fully franked
Eumundi Group Ltd (ASX:EBG) is paying 2.35 cents fully franked
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) is paying 24 cents fully franked
Integrated Research Limited (ASX:IRI) is paying 3.75 cents fully franked
Kip McGrath Education Centres Limited (ASX:KME) is paying 2.5 cents fully franked
Mortgage Choice Ltd (ASX:MOC) is paying 3 cents fully franked
NAOS Ex-50 Opportunities Company Ltd (ASX:NAC) is paying 1.2 cents fully franked
NB Global Corporate Income Trust (ASX:NBI) is paying 0.8991 cents unfranked
NIB Holdings Limited (ASX:NHF) is paying 13 cents fully franked
Naos Smlcap Com Ltd (ASX:NSC) is paying 0.5 cents fully franked
National Tyre& Wheel Ltd (ASX:NTD) is paying 3.55 cents fully franked
Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) is paying 15 cents fully franked
OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) is paying 8 cents fully franked
Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) is paying 13 cents fully franked
VGI Partners Limited (ASX:VGI) is paying 25.6457 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 67.29 US cents, 55.42 Pence Sterling, 71.32 Yen and 61.26 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore futures suggest a 3.4 per cent gain.
Gold has fallen$7.50 to US$1529 an ounce.
Silver was up 2 cents to US$18.34 an ounce.
Oil has dropped $1.61 to US$55.10a barrel.
 
Copyright 2019 – Finance News Network


Source: Finance News Network

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