Global Market Report - 13 September
The Australian share market is expected to open lower on the back of a mixed performance on Wall Street, with the markets affected by a fresh round of US-China trade talks and a decline in Apple shares.
Australia
The Australian share market is expected to open lower on the back of a mixed performance on Wall Street, with the markets affected by a fresh round of US-China trade talks and a decline in Apple shares.
In futures trading, the SPI200 futures contract was down 17 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 6162 points at 8.30am. The Australian dollar has bounced back and is trading at 71.69 US cents, up from 70.98 US cents on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 27.86 points, or 0.11 per cent at 25,998 points, while the S&P500 is up 1.03 points or 0.04 per cent at 2888 points.
The tech-heavy NASDAQ index is down 18.24 points or 0.23 per cent at 7,954 points.
The local currency got a boost from hopes that US-China trade tensions will ease after an invitation was sent to China from senior US officials led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The key economic data out on Wednesday will be the jobs figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which are expected to show the unemployment rate held steady in August at 5.3 per cent.
The number of Australians with a job is forecast to increase by 18,000, according to a survey of market economists by Westpac, after falling by 3900 in July.
Asia
Hong Kong's benchmark stock index extended its fall to a sixth straight day on Wednesday, weighed by consumer and service sectors, as worries about China's economic health and the broadening Sino-US trade war continue to curb risk appetite.
The Hang Seng index fell 0.3 percent, to 26,345.04, while the China Enterprises Index lost 0.9 per cent, to 10,238.77 points.
The main index was dragged lower by the consumer and services sectors, which lost over 2 per cent each.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell further Wednesday, at one point threatening to close at its lowest since 2014.
Europe
European shares rose on Wednesday as oil and mining stocks rallied and investors shrugged off worries over trade tensions between the US and China.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.5 per cent, even though Asian stocks fell after President Donald Trump said the US was taking a "tough stance" with China on trade.
Oil stocks rose 1.6 per cent after Brent prices reached $US80 a barrel following a drop in US crude inventories and as sanctions on Iran added to concerns over global supply. Mining shares climbed 1.3 per cent.
Individual stocks posted big moves triggered by results and M&A speculation.
Dutch biotech firm Galapagos soared 16.2 per cent to the top of the STOXX after positive trial results for its filgotinib drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
British energy provider SSE sank 8.5 per cent after it warned first-half profit would halve compared with last year, calling its financial performance “disappointing and regrettable”.
North America
The Dow and S&P 500 have ended slightly higher after news of a fresh round of US-China trade talks, while the Nasdaq fell following a decline in Apple as it unveiled larger iPhones but made just minor changes to its offerings.
The Trump administration has reached out to China for a new round of trade talks as it prepares to activate punitive US tariffs on $US200 billion worth of Chinese goods, sources say.
Trade-sensitive stocks rose, including Boeing, up 2.4 per cent.
Apple shares were down 1.2 per cent. The company also unveiled health-oriented watches based on the design of current models.
Shares of fitness device rival Fitbit fell 6.9 while shares of Garmin lost some earlier gains and were flat after the launch of Apple's latest Apple Watch.
The S&P technology index was down 0.5 per cent, reversing Tuesday's gains, with fears of further deregulation also hurting Apple as well as social media names.
Six major web and internet service companies, including Apple, are to detail their consumer data privacy practices to a US Senate panel on September 26, raising the spectre of the possibility of stricter regulation.
Among the six companies to testify later this month, Twitter shares were down 3.7 per cent, while Alphabet was down 1.5 per cent.
Facebook, not among the companies to testify, was down 2.4 per cent.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index was down 1.2 per cent after Goldman Sachs became the latest brokerage to warn of lower prices for memory chips due to an oversupply of DRAM and NAND chips. Micron slid 4.3 per cent, while Applied Materials was down 2 per cent.
Financial shares lost ground with 10-year bond yields. The S&P financial index was down 0.9 per cent.
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Lex Hall is content editor, Morningstar Australia
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