Wall Street rises on earnings and Brexit news: Aus shares to defy leads and open lower

The local sharemarket is set to dip at the open despite positive earnings results on Wall street and news about a Brexit deal. In the US stocks rose on Thursday after upbeat earnings results from companies such as Netflix and Morgan Stanley. Investors were also buoyed by news of the European Union and the U.K. striking a deal on Brexit. Shares in Netflix rose 2.5 per cent after the video streamer posted earnings that topped analyst expectations. Meantime, Morgan Stanley also got a boost from its quarterly numbers, closing 1 per cent higher. News from the UK also helped the market push higher after after U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a great new Brexit deal had been reached via Twitter. (He urged British lawmakers to back the deal when it comes before Parliament on Saturday.) Markets rallied on the Brexit reports, as the deal removed some investor uncertainty amid increasing concerns about the health of the global economy. On Wednesday, unanticipated weak U.S. retail sales data added to fears about a possible recession. Towards the end of the session European stocks gave up earlier gains as British lawmakers cast doubt on a draft Brexit deal.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent to close at 27,026, the S&P 500 closed 0.3 per cent higher at 2998 and the NASDAQ gained 0.4 per cent to 8157.

European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE added 0.2 per cent, Paris lost 0.4 per cent and Frankfurt fell 0.1 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed 0.1 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.7 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 per cent.

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

Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 52 points (0.8%) lower at 6685.

Company news

Yancoal (ASX:YAL) says its 2019 guidance remains unchanged with Year-to-date attributable saleable coal production of 26.2 million tonnes which is 4 per cent ahead of 2018. Year-to-date attributable sales volumes are also up 2 per cent on the year earlier period. Yancoal CEO Reinhold Schmidt says its operational performance remains on track to achieve the targets for 2019, including attributable saleable coal production of approximately 35 million tonnes and flat operating costs. Shares in Yancoal Australia (ASX:YAL) closed 0.7 per cent higher at $3.04 yesterday.

Ex – Dividend

Cadence Capital (ASX:CDM) is paying 2 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 68.28 US cents, 53 Pence Sterling, 74.19 Yen and 61.39 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron Ore has lost 0.9 per cent at US$87.06.
Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.1 per cent gain.
Gold has gained $1.40 to US$1495 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.14 cents to US$17.57 an ounce.
Oil has risen $0.69 to US$54.05 a barrel.

Source: Finance News Network