The market is in for a soft start with the ASX Futures at – 0.1 per cent as investors analyse the impact that the looming trade war will have on the earnings of companies and industries.
The markets last week shrugged off concerns about the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies and put in a solid performance.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed on Friday at its highest level since early February, climbing 0.1 percent to 2801.31 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 94.52 points to 25,019.41.
European stocks extended their weekly gains, putting concerns over a potential global trade war on the back burner as investors instead focused on a raft of prominent bank earnings out of the US. The UK’s FTSE 100 index ended the week up 0.1 per cent to 7661.87, France’s CAC 40 index jumped 0.4 per cent to 5429.20, and Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 0.4 per cent to close at 12,540.73.
Asian shares also soared. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.85 per cent, or 409.39 points, to close at 22,597.35, South Korea’s Kospi was up1.13 per cent to close at 2,310.90 and MSCI’s index of Asia Pacific shares excluding Japan rose 0.44 percent.
The Australian share market closed flat on Friday with the S&P/ASX 200 index falling 3.9 points, or 0.1 per cent to 6268.4.
Australian investors will be waiting for the minutes from the last meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia board on Tuesday which resolved to keep interest rates on hold. They will be watching out for the RBA’s views on the housing market and how the fall in housing prices might flow through to the household sector and broader economy.
And on Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will be bringing out its figures on the state of labour force, pointing to how unemployment levels are tracking. Also on Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be handing down its decision on Transurban’s bid for the $17 billion Westconnex project in Sydney.
There will be quarterly production reports from Rio Tinto (Tuesday 17 July), BHP (Wednesday18 July) and Woodside (Thursday19 July).
16th July 2018
