Wall Street sell off: Aus shares to open lower
Following weak leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open lower. US consumer spending plunged by a record 7.5 per cent in March and another 3.8 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. This news sparked a sell off on Wall Street.
Local economic news
Today Core Logic will release its Home Value Index for April, the ABS is set to release producer price indexes for the March quarter; and AiGroup and CBA will publish data on manufacturing gauges for April.
Markets
To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2 per cent to close 24,346 the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent to 2912 and the NASDAQ closed 0.3 per cent lower at 8890.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 3.5 per cent, Paris lost 2.1 per cent and Frankfurt closed 2.2 per cent lower.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 2.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite added 1.3 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to a 2.3 per cent loss.
Yesterday, the Australian share market closed 2.4 per cent higher at 5,522.
Company news
Medical diagnostic company, Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) has secured a contract with the Australian Government for the provision of a dedicated pathology service. The service will be used to conduct rapid sample collection and testing for COVID-19 in residential aged care facilities. Nearly 2,700 residential aged care facilities across the country are eligible for this service. Over the last two months, Sonic’s laboratories have collectively tested more than 100,000 Australians for COVID-19 – that’s almost 20 per cent of all COVID-19 conducted in Australia. Sonic Healthcare has also entered into a partnership with the Australian Government and the Minderoo Foundation with a view to increasing COVID-19 testing capacity across Australia. Shares in Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) closed 1.3 per cent higher at $27.19 yesterday
Packaging solution provider, Orora (ASX:ORA) has successfully completed the sale of its Australasian Fibre Business to a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Paper Industries Co. for around 1.72 billion. Net proceeds after tax and costs from the sale will be approximately A$1.55 billion. The company’s Managing Director and CEO, Brian Lowe says “looking ahead, Orora has commenced a review of the strategy for the continuing businesses, including assessing competitive advantage in key market segments and identifying growth options to leverage our existing core strengths.” Shares in Orora (ASX:ORA) closed 1.2 per cent higher at $2.57 yesterday.
Currencies
One Australian Dollar at 7:15 AM was buying 65.12 US cents, 51.74 Pence Sterling, 69.83 Yen and 59.45 Euro cents.
Commodities
Iron Ore has added 1.9 per cent to US$84.04
Iron Ore futures suggest a 2.5 per cent gain.
Gold has dropped $20.30 to US$1693 an ounce.
Silver has fallen $0.24 to US$15.08 an ounce.
Oil was up $4.10 to US$19.16 a barrel.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
