Originally published by Rivkin Securities
The Australian market will open higher this morning, reversing most of Friday’s surprise sell-off after Wall Street ended the day sharply higher and the week roughly flat. The Australian market actually enjoyed its best week in 14 months as the banks rallied from recent lows on the back of relatively positive trading updates.
US shares fell 0.2% over the week, but other share markets did a little better with Japanese shares flat, Eurozone shares up 0.9%, Chinese shares up 0.5% and Australian shares up 1.8%.
As far as this week is concerned, we can expect a quieter week ahead for the US with the wind down of the March quarter earnings season, but in Australia the pace picks up. Westpac (AX:WBC) reports its interim this morning after the NAB (AX:NAB) and ANZ (AX:ANZ) reported well-received numbers last week. Others to report this week include fertiliser and explosives group, Incitec Pivot (AX:IPL), Orica (AX:ORI), building products group CSR (AX:CSR), and Graincorp (AX:GNC).
Oil prices hit new multi-year highs on Friday, ending higher on the day and the week (again), thanks to growing concerns over the economic collapse of Venezuela and its oil industry, plus possible new sanctions against Iran from the Trump administration. Meanwhile, Comex gold futures settled with a small gain on Friday but recorded a loss for a third week in a row as investors showed a lukewarm reaction to the monthly US jobs report.
Data Releases:
- No Significant Data