Originally published by Rivkin Securities
Stock Markets
Australian shares are set to open marginally lower today after Wall Street’s major indexes pulled back from session highs as investors wait for new catalysts such as an actual deal between the US and China. US stocks rallied on renewed trade optimism induced by comments from US President Trump which Implied that the two powerhouse economies are “very, very close” to striking a deal to end their trade dispute.
Wall Street’s main indices edged higher overnight and closed below session highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 all closed in positive territory, with the indices gaining 60.14 (+0.23%), 3.44 (+0.12%), and 26.92 (+0.36%) points respectively.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed higher on Monday, finishing up 19.0 (0.31%) points with the technology sector (+0.31%) leading the market.
ASX 200 futures are currently down 10.0 points.
Commodities and Currencies
Overnight, Brent and WTI crude tumbled to US$64.76 (-3.4%) and US$55.43 (-3.2%) respectively after US President Donald Trump publicly tweeted about OPEC urging it to lower the cost of crude, thus putting pressure on OPEC to soften its price-boosting output cuts.
Iron ore prices are down 2.2% to US$82.56 per tonne.
The spot price of gold is marginally down 0.01% and is currently hovering around US$1328.16.
The Australian dollar is currently up 0.55% at US71.68¢.