OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is expected to open higher. The SPI200 futures contract expected to open up 24 points.
Facebook has reached deals with several of the nation’s biggest news outlets to contribute to the social-media giant’s news section, which will launch Friday with a limited test audience of 200,000 users.
The failure of a PG&E power line minutes before a wildfire broke out in California’s wine country starkly shows how the company’s electric system continues to pose risks to the safety of millions of residents.
Overnight Summary
Each Market in Focus
Broad gains helped push Australia’s equities market to a fifth consecutive daily rise and cap a third straight weekly advance. Settling near the session’s high, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 6739.2, the highest close since the month began.
For the week, the index gained 1.4%. The heavily weighted big banks underpinned the push, and the sector as a whole was up just over 1% for the week. But some of the day’s biggest gains were in the health-care space, with ResMed rallying 11% after posting quarterly earnings and CSL adding 1.6%.
The S&P 500 made a run at its record-but came up short-as optimism on trade and a fresh batch of earnings results propelled the index to its third consecutive week of gains.
The broad stock-market index rose 12.26 points, or 0.4%, to 3022.55, and briefly climbed above its previous closing record of 3025.86 from July 26. Stock gains accelerated and Treasury yields jumped higher after reports that the U.S. and China made progress in trade discussions, edging closer to finalizing portions of a phase one deal.
The Nasdaq Composite reversed an early loss to add 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6%, led higher by shares of Caterpillar and 3M, though the blue-chip gauge continued to lag behind the S&P 500 this week. Those indexes are 1.1% and 1.5%, respectively, from their July highs.
Friday’s moves helped propel the market out of a stretch of listless trading this week. The S&P 500 and Dow haven’t had a 1% move up or down in more than a week. A mixed bag of corporate earnings results drove only modest moves in the broader market, which were underpinned by large swings in shares of individual companies.
Among the big moves under the surface Friday, shares of Intel climbed 7.9% after the chip maker raised its outlook for the year Thursday. Charter Communications rose 6.5% after the cable company’s third-quarter profit fell less than expected and revenue beat forecasts. Shares of Amazon.com dropped about 1.3% after the tech giant reported a 26% fall in profit as it invested heavily to speed up shipping times.
Gold futures gave up most of their gains for the day by the settlement, but held ground above the key $1,500 price to score a second weekly climb in a row.
Downbeat economic data, with a reading on U.S. consumer sentiment revised down to 95.5 in October from an initial 96, along with expectations for more easing from global central banks that could add further support for bullion, provided support for gold.
However, news on Friday that the U.S. and China have made progress in trade talks and are close to finalizing parts of a phase one deal dulled some of that haven demand for the yellow metal.
Oil futures inched higher, with U.S. benchmark crude prices settling more than 5% higher for the week, as news of progress on part of a U.S.-China trade deal eased concerns over a slowdown in economic growth and energy demand.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said the U.S. and China have come close to finalizing parts of the so-called phase one deal. The news provided a lift to assets deemed as risky, including oil, and U.S. benchmark stocks indexes climbed. The S&P 500 Index briefly traded above its all-time closing high.
West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 43 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $56.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The front-month contract, which marked the highest finish since Sept. 24, tallied a 5.2% weekly advance, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
December Brent crude , the global benchmark, added 35 cents, or 0.6%, at $62.02 on ICE Futures Europe to post a weekly rise of 4.4%. Prices settled at their highest since Sept. 26.
The British pound drifted lower on uncertainty about whether, or how long, the European Union would extend the deadline for the U.K.’s departure from the bloc.
French President Emmanuel Macron blocked the European Union’s attempt to delay Brexit for three months, Bloomberg News reported.
The British poundtraded at $1.2817, down from $1.2851 on Thursday — a small decline suggesting traders aren’t assigning a high probability to a hasty departure. But a short extension could essentially force the U.K.’s Parliament to reconsider the Johnson-negotiated deal.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 settled 0.2% higher as fresh economic data and corporate earnings continued to paint a mixed picture of how the biggest businesses in the region are doing.
The outlook for growth and inflation in the eurozone over the coming years was lowered by forecasters surveyed by the European Central Bank. Adding to the subdued economic outlook, market-research group GfK said German consumer sentiment is set to worsen in November, while business expectations in the country improved slightly, according to the Ifo Institute. Russia’s central bank cut rates by half a percentage point-the fourth cut since June and the largest to date-highlighting the risk of a global economic slowdown.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.5% lower at 26667.39, with Ping An Insurance leading declines. The Chinese financial conglomerate shed 3.9%, a day after it reported broad growth for the first nine months and a weaker increase in new business value, a key insurance- industry metric. Telecommunications operators were also among the leading decliners, with China Unicom down 1.5% and China Mobile 1.3% lower. Shares of drug makers were in strong demand. CSPC Pharmaceutical rose 5.7%, as progress in the development of several drugs boosted its outlook.
India stocks settled higher as banks bounced back from broad losses the day before. The benchmark Sensex closed 0.1% higher at 39058.06. Yes Bank led the increase with a 8.0% jump while State Bank of India also climbed by 7.2%. ICICI Bank advanced 3.2% while Axis Bank added 0.1%. Telecom operator Bharti Airtel edged up by 0.9% while Reliance lost 0.4%, after volatile movements the day before following news that they were ordered to pay hefty fees to the government.
The post Australian market expected to open higher 28/10/19 appeared first on FP Markets.
