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Australian market expected to open higher 12/02/20

Australian market expected to open higher 12/02/20, FP Markets

OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is expected to open higher. The SPI200 futures contract expected to open up 10 points.

The Federal Trade Commission ordered five big tech companies-Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft-to provide detailed information about their previous acquisitions of small companies, expanding the agency’s investigation into possible antitrust concerns
in digital markets.

The multibillion-dollar startup racked up a $322 million net loss for the first nine months of 2019, raising questions about the valuation and timing of the home-sharing giant’s much-anticipated public-markets debut.

Overnight Summary

EACH MARKET IN FOCUS

Australian Market

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.6% higher at 7055.3 amid broad-based gains. The benchmark index ended at its highest level since Jan. 24, as optimism over earnings likely outweighed uncertainties about the impact of coronavirus.

Technology shares were again star performers, with the sector gaining 1.7% after seven of the 14 largest tech stocks added between 2.0% and 4.5% each. Communications was the next best with a 1.0% sector gain powered by Telstra’s 1.8% rise two days ahead of the
market heavyweight’s half-year earnings results.

But hearing-implant maker Cochlear lost 3.4% after cutting its profit guidance as China delays surgeries to slow the spread of coronavirus.

US Market

U.S. stocks ticked higher intraday, with investors encouraged by the latest developments on the coronavirus outbreak and markets-friendly comments from the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1%.
Investors parsed comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said in congressional testimony that the central bank is “closely monitoring” the potential for global economic disruptions from the emergence of the coronavirus in China.

Commodities

 Gold futures ended lower for the first time in five sessions as global equity markets punched higher, with the moves being attributed to an apparent slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus.

More than 43,000 cases of the Wuhan virus have been confirmed, with at least 1,018 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. However, the number of new, confirmed cases in China fell, according to China’s National Health Commission.

April gold fell $9.40, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,570.10 an ounce, putting an end to a four-session win streak that sent prices on Monday to the highest settlement in a week.  In other commodity markets, March wheat prices fell 10 cents to $5.42.

Oil Futures

Oil prices climbed, with U.S. benchmark prices recouping a small portion of the losses that sent prices to their lowest finish in more than a year a day earlier.

Worries about the spread of a coronavirus, named COVID-19, eased a bit. Prices, however, ended off the day’s best levels after the Energy Information Administration lowered its 2020 forecasts for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude prices.

March WTI oil rose 37 cents, or nearly 0.8%, to settle at $49.94 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Forex

  The WSJ Dollar Index recently was down 0.17% to 91.47.

European Markets

European stocks rebounded to a record high in a broad-based advance, with the travel sector rallying as tour operator Tui demonstrated how it has benefited from the collapse of a rival.

The Stoxx Europe 600 climbed 0.9% to 428.47. The previous record closing high was set on Feb. 6 at 425.49.  The German DAX, which gained 1% to 13627.84, also reached a fresh record. The French CAC

Asian Markets

South Korean stocks finished higher, snapping a two-session losing streak.  The benchmark Kospi gained 1.0% to 2223.12. Gainers included chemical companies and some film makers behind Parasite, a Korean movie that won this year’s best-picture Oscar.

Solid U.S. data and hopes for additional stimulus in China offset concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, as Chinese workers gradually returned to work.

Hong Kong shares ended the session higher after two days of declines. The Hang Seng Index gained 1.3% to close at 27583.88. Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index closed 0.4% higher at 3175.57, led by a mixed bag of companies.  And Indian shares ended the session higher after two consecutive days of declines amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak and weak earnings results from several big
companies. The benchmark Sensex rose 0.6% to close at 41216.14. Many decliners over the past few sessions recovered losses, with utilities leading the rebound.

  • Australian market expected to open higher 12/02/20, FP Markets
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