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Australian market set to open flat

Release time:  2017-07-28 author:  ADNose browse:  101


THE Australian market looks set to open flat, unimpressed by moves on Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lifted but the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.6 per cent. At 0700 AEST on Friday, the share price futures index was down two points, or 0.03 per cent, at 5,718.

In the US, a swoon in technology and transportation shares led the S&P 500 slightly lower on a day full of corporate earnings reports, the Nasdaq fell, but the Dow industrials set a record closing high, helped by a jump in Verizon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.39 per cent, the S&P 500 lost 0.10 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.63 per cent.

Locally, in economic news on Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is to release the June quarter producer price index.

No major equities news is expected.

On Thursday, the Australian dollar soared passed 80 US cents for the first time in more than two years as diminished expectations for rate rises in the US dented the greenback.

It hit a high of 80.66 US cents, its best value since May 2015, after the US Federal Reserve suggested it was in no hurry to raise interest rates. The Australian market on Thursday closed modestly higher with stronger iron ore and copper prices boosting mining stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 8.4 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5,785 points at 1630 AEST.

The broader All Ordinaries index was up 8.9 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 5,832.2 points.

On Friday, the Australian dollar has fallen sharply against its US counterpart which was boosted by data showing a 6.5 per cent rise in durable goods, beating expectations of a 3.9 per cent lift.

The local currency was trading at 79.67 US cents at 0700 AEST on Friday, from 80.37 on Thursday.