Investors are keeping a watchful eye on the US economy after the nation’s gross domestic product data, released on Friday, showed fresh strength.A separate report indicated consumer confidence climbed in September to a 14-month high as Americans’ outlooks for the economy improved. Locally, futures are pointing to a small rise at the open.
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What you need2know:
• SPI futures up 9 points to 5313
• AUD at 87.58 US cents, 95.65 Japanese yen, 69.00 Euro cents and 53.92 British pence
• In the US, S&P +0.9%, Dow +1%, Nasdaq +1%
• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.6%, FTSE +0.2%, CAC +0.9%, DAX -0.2%
• Iron ore is at $US78.60 per metric tonne
• Spot gold slips 0.3% to $US1218.38 an ounce
• Brent oil is at $US97.00 per barrel.
What’s on today
Australia nothing scheduled; US personal income August, UK consumer confidence.
Stocks to watch
Deutsche Bank has advised investors to “hold” on Caltex Australia shares and has a 12-month price expectation of $25.45 a share.
Morningstar has a “reduce” rating for Infratil Limited and has a fair price expectation of $2.50 a share.
Morningstar has an “accumulate” rating for resources engineering group Monadelphous Group and has a fair price expectation of $16.00 a share.
Morningstar has advised investors to “reduce” investment in Metcash and has a fair price expectation of $2.50 a share.
The following stocks will trade ex dividend today:
Imperial Pacific, London City Equities, Lycopodium, McMillan Shakespeare, Peet Ltd, Recall Holdings, carsales.com.
Currencies
The US dollar rose for a sixth day on Friday as the US economic growth accelerated faster than previously estimated, bolstering the case for the Fed to increase interest rates. The yen dropped, approaching the weakest level in six years versus the US currency, on speculation Japan’s government will push ahead with changes to allow the nation’s $US1.2 trillion pension fund to buy more overseas assets.
Commodities
Iron ore closed unchanged at $78.60 on Friday, according to the Steel Index.
Gold fell on Friday after a report showed that the US economy expanded last quarter at the fastest rate since 2011, crimping demand for the metal as an alternative investment.
Oil prices traded mixed on Friday, with the main US contract gaining 11 per cent and Brent holding stable amid geopolitical tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.
United States
US stocks finished an up-and-down week on a high note, posting solid gains on a strong Nike earnings report and a rally in Apple shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 167.35 points (0.99 per cent) to 17,113.15. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 16.86 (0.86 per cent) to 1982.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 45.45 (1.02 per cent) to 4512.19.
Europe
Europe’s main stock markets have moved in mixed directions while the euro continued to slide against the dollar. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index ended Friday with a gain of 0.15 per cent at 6649.39 points while in Paris, the CAC 40 climbed 0.91 per cent to 4394.75 points. However Frankfurt’s DAX index shed 0.20 per cent to 9490.55 points after disappointing German consumer confidence data and a drop in shares in Allianz after its bond unit Pimco lost its chief.
Asia
Tokyo stocks have slipped 0.88 per cent on Friday following a sell-off on Wall Street, easing from a seven-year high reached in the previous session. The key Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday fell 144.28 points to 16,229.86, while the Topix index of all first-section shares eased 1.08 per cent, or 14.48 points, to 1331.95. South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.1 per cent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed
What happened on Friday
A selloff in the major banks and miners dragged the Australian sharemarket to a six-month low on Friday and a fifth consecutive week of losses.
For the week, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 dropped 2.2 per cent, or 119.7 points, to 5313.4, wiping out 2014’s gains. The broader All Ordinaries also lost 2.2 per cent, or 120.7 points, to 5316.6. On Friday the ASX 200 fell 1.3 per cent, or 68.8 points, while the All Ordinaries dipped 1.2 per cent, to 65.8 points. So far in September, the ASX200 has slumped 5.6 per cent, and is now down 0.7 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Wires
