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Market Opener – 21 Jun 2018
Local Markets Commentary
The ASX was poised to open higher this morning in the slipstream of billowing tech and media stocks soaring in New York overnight.
SPI futures were up 10 points, or 0.2%, to 6194 early today after the Australian market had closed at its highest since January 2008.
In China the central government appealed for calm and assured 100 million retail shareholders that it was striving to avoid another 2015 stock market crash.
Investment bank Macquarie closed at a record 10-year high of $121.72 and the Australian dollar had tumbled 4% this week to 73.68c in early trade this morning, skirting its lowest levels in more than a year.
That will be good news for exporters, notably Australian Bauxite (ABX) and also Quickstep (QHL).
Overseas Market Commentary
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed higher overnight on billowing sentiment that icy trade relations between the U.S. and Europe were thawing.
The Nasdaq rose 0.7% to an all-time high of 7,781.51 led by Facebook and Netflix, which are both also at all-time peaks and climbed 2.3% and 2.9% respectively.
OPEC was close to reaching a deal on oil output ahead of their meeting tomorrow to limit output to cool oil prices, which had hit a three-and-a-half year high recently.
Indications were that increased production would not meet the 500,000-1.5million extra barrels a day which Saudi Arabia and Russia have lobbied for, but met resistance from Venezuela, Iraq and Iran.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh told CNBC that he was more optimistic about production levels yesterday and would accept a more modest supply hike.
OPEC will also have to address falling output from Venezuela, Angola and Mexico as well an expected fall in production from Iran resulting from U.S. sanctions in the second half of the year.
Chinese acquisition in the U.S. fell 92% to US$1.8 billion in the five months to May, according to consulting and research company Rhodium Group.
Factoring in divestitures, net Chinese investment to the U.S. was negative US$7.8 billion. In 2016 Chinese investment in the U.S. was a record US$46 billion, dropping to US$29 billion last year.
The slowdown has resulted from China putting the squeeze on capital flight and excessive leverage and U.S. concerns over intellectual property rights security, which has resulted in greater scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions.
In Germany car manufacturers are pushing for the European Union to scrap 10% import taxes levied on U.S. made cars, the Wall Street Journal reported.
This follows a meeting between Richard Grenell, U.S. ambassador to Germany and BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler where the car makers pitched the idea as part of a deal involving industrial goods.
However, in return Europe is pushing for the U.S. to scrap a long-standing 25% tax levied on imported pickups, SUVs and big vans, a deal which could leave U.S. auto workers vulnerable.
In South Korea another cryptocurrency has been hacked, this time Bithumb which revealed that it had temporarily suspending deposit and withdrawal services after US$30 million was stolen.
This followed Coinrail suffering a similar fate earlier this month. Bithumb did not reveal when it would resume its services.
Walt Disney has upped the ante in its bid for Twenty-First Century Fox to US$71.3 billion, or US$38 a share, in response to Comcast’s US$35 a share all-cash offer last week.
Disney’s latest bid gives shareholders the option of choosing cash or stock and followed a meeting on Tuesday between Fox’s Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Disney CEO Robert Iger. Fox shares were up 7.3% and Disney rose 1%.
The ASX was poised to open higher this morning in the slipstream of billowing tech and media stocks soaring in New York overnight.
SPI futures were up 10 points, or 0.2%, to 6194 early today after the Australian market had closed at its highest since January 2008.
In China the central government appealed for calm and assured 100 million retail shareholders that it was striving to avoid another 2015 stock market crash.
Investment bank Macquarie closed at a record 10-year high of $121.72 and the Australian dollar had tumbled 4% this week to 73.68c in early trade this morning, skirting its lowest levels in more than a year.
That will be good news for exporters, notably Australian Bauxite (ABX) and also Quickstep (QHL).
Overseas Market Commentary
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 closed higher overnight on billowing sentiment that icy trade relations between the U.S. and Europe were thawing.
The Nasdaq rose 0.7% to an all-time high of 7,781.51 led by Facebook and Netflix, which are both also at all-time peaks and climbed 2.3% and 2.9% respectively.
OPEC was close to reaching a deal on oil output ahead of their meeting tomorrow to limit output to cool oil prices, which had hit a three-and-a-half year high recently.
Indications were that increased production would not meet the 500,000-1.5million extra barrels a day which Saudi Arabia and Russia have lobbied for, but met resistance from Venezuela, Iraq and Iran.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh told CNBC that he was more optimistic about production levels yesterday and would accept a more modest supply hike.
OPEC will also have to address falling output from Venezuela, Angola and Mexico as well an expected fall in production from Iran resulting from U.S. sanctions in the second half of the year.
Chinese acquisition in the U.S. fell 92% to US$1.8 billion in the five months to May, according to consulting and research company Rhodium Group.
Factoring in divestitures, net Chinese investment to the U.S. was negative US$7.8 billion. In 2016 Chinese investment in the U.S. was a record US$46 billion, dropping to US$29 billion last year.
The slowdown has resulted from China putting the squeeze on capital flight and excessive leverage and U.S. concerns over intellectual property rights security, which has resulted in greater scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions.
In Germany car manufacturers are pushing for the European Union to scrap 10% import taxes levied on U.S. made cars, the Wall Street Journal reported.
This follows a meeting between Richard Grenell, U.S. ambassador to Germany and BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler where the car makers pitched the idea as part of a deal involving industrial goods.
However, in return Europe is pushing for the U.S. to scrap a long-standing 25% tax levied on imported pickups, SUVs and big vans, a deal which could leave U.S. auto workers vulnerable.
In South Korea another cryptocurrency has been hacked, this time Bithumb which revealed that it had temporarily suspending deposit and withdrawal services after US$30 million was stolen.
This followed Coinrail suffering a similar fate earlier this month. Bithumb did not reveal when it would resume its services.
Walt Disney has upped the ante in its bid for Twenty-First Century Fox to US$71.3 billion, or US$38 a share, in response to Comcast’s US$35 a share all-cash offer last week.
Disney’s latest bid gives shareholders the option of choosing cash or stock and followed a meeting on Tuesday between Fox’s Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Disney CEO Robert Iger. Fox shares were up 7.3% and Disney rose 1%.