Originally published by Rivkin Securities
The ASX will start on a flat note this morning after a weak ending to offshore trading on Friday, following on from the strongest day’s trading in Australia for 11 months. Friday’s surge was the biggest gain since last July, and yet it was completely out of touch with what happened offshore later in the session with most markets marginally down. The sharp fall in the Australian dollar on Thursday night is the likely contributor to the strong gains seen in Australia.
The stronger US dollar hit commodity prices last week, helping drive oil prices lower as well as the prices of gold and other metals plus agricultural commodities. Gold futures settled at the lowest level of the year on Friday, just a day after finishing at a monthly high, as the US dollar index briefly touched an 11-month high. Oil futures dropped sharply on Friday, ending the week lower, with Brent crude falling to a more-than-six-week low on expectations OPEC and its allies (mostly Russia) will agree late this week to boost output by cutting the cap on daily production.
This week brings expectations of major changes at Telstra (AX:TLS) as it holds a strategy day. CEO Andy Penn knows by now that more of the same will not be tolerated by the market, and with lots of speculation about what is in store for TLS its shareholders will be hoping for something exciting (although a lower future dividend may be included as part of the new TLS).
Data Releases:
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