Australia

The Australian share market is set to open lower, following dips on from Wall Street, which was weighed down by falls in healthcare stocks.

At 7am (AEST), the Australian share price futures index was down 17 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 5949 points.

The Australian share market yesterday closed at its highest level in six weeks, wrapping up April with a run of gains that has added 230 points to the benchmark index since March.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed up 29.1 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 5982.7 points, while the All Ordinaries index was up 28.7 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 6071.6 points.

ANZ has posted a 4.1 per cent rise in half-year cash profit to $3.49 billion.

The RBA meets today and is widely tipped to keep the cash rate on hold at a record low of 1.5 per cent for the 21st month in a row. RBA Governor Philip Lowe speaks at a dinner in Adelaide tonight.

The results of the ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence weekly survey are also due out, and the Ai Group releases its Australian Performance Manufacturing index. In equities news, ANZ releases its half-year earnings results.

Today, the Australian dollar is lower, with investors in a risk averse mood overnight. At 8am (AEST), the local currency was worth US75.33c, from US75.59c yesterday.

Asia

Asian shares extended gains on Monday as tensions in the Korean Peninsula eased and first-quarter earnings shone, although some investors were cautious about the outlook amid tomorrow’s deadline for Trump tariff threats.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 1 per cent, adding to a similar rise on Friday. The index is now poised for a modest rise this month after two consecutive losses.

South Korea’s KOSPI index rose 0.92 per cent and is set to end April more than 2.5 per cent higher following record profits from tech giant Samsung Electronics and after a spectacularly successful inter-Korean summit. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 1.74 per cent.
Liquidity was low on Monday with Japan, China and India on holiday and much of Asia closed on Tuesday.

Overall, stocks continue to be supported by strong first quarter corporate earnings. More than half of Wall Street’s S&P 500 companies have reported and 79.4 per cent have beaten consensus estimates.

Out today: Japan Nikkei PMI manufacturing April.

Europe

The prospect of a supermarket mega-merger helped carry the London stock market higher.

Britain’s second and third biggest supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Walmart-owned Asda have agreed to merge, the pair said, hoping to create a £13 billion ($24bn) retail king and leapfrog UK number one Tesco.

Sainsbury’s stock shot up 14.5 per cent to 309.00 pence, while Tesco slid 0.9 per cent to 235.90 pence. Asda is not listed. Walmart shares rose 2.3 per cent in New York to $US89.32.

Out today: UK Markit manufacturing PMI April.

North America

Wall Street fell on Monday as healthcare stocks slid and investors worried about rising costs for companies as oil prices rose, although the major indexes eked out a gain in April to snap a two-month losing streak.

The healthcare sector, which dropped 1.6 per cent, weighed most heavily on the S&P 500, as shares of Allergan and Celgene led the sector’s slide.

Even as companies’ quarterly results have come in strong, their earnings calls have raised concerns that rising commodity prices may pinch profit margins in the future.

The possibility that temporary exemptions on steel and aluminum tariffs might expire for several US allies also weighed on US stocks. Without an extension from US President Donald Trump, the exemptions will expire on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 148.04 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 24,163.15, the S&P 500 lost 21.86 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 2648.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 53.53 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 7066.27.

The market started the day on a high note following strong McDonald’s earnings and a stream of merger announcements, but weakened midday around the time that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of lying about its nuclear intentions.

Out today: US Markit manufacturing PMI April, Construction spending March; ISM manufacturing April. 

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Lex Hall is a Morningstar content editor, based in Sydney

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