OPENING CALL: The Australian share market is expected to open lower. The SPI200 futures contract expected to open down 12 points.
Boeing is being sued by an aircraft leasing company seeking to cancel its order for 22 of the aerospace giant’s 737 MAX jetliners that it alleges is worthless.
New York Life Insurance agreed to pay $6.3 billion in cash for a Cigna unit that sells nonmedical insurance products to employers, the two firms said.
Overnight Summary
Each Market in Focus
Australian shares finished another choppy session little changed, as financial and mining stocks held back gains in other sectors. Fading in the final minutes, the S&P/ASX 200 settled 4.1 points higher at 6851.4 after inching lower Tuesday.
Westpac and National Australian Bank led the major banks lower, falling 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively, while British lender Virgin Money UK lost a further 3.9%. Oz Minerals sank 5.4%, while Rio Tinto shed 1.0%.
Still, energy companies logged solid gains and Oil Search climbed 3.3% after a lift in the resource estimate for its Alaskan oil project.
U.S. stocks rose slightly intraday, pushing to new records despite the rancor in Washington or the profit warning from shipper FedEx.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were both up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%. Shares of real estate companies rose 1.5% to lift the S&P 500.
Gold futures ended lower, losing ground as the U.S. dollar drifted to the upside and U.S. benchmark stock indexes looked to extend their recent gains.
Gold for February delivery on Comex fell $1.90, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,478.70 an ounce, while March silver fell 2.3 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.049 an ounce.
Oil prices swung between small gains and losses after government data showed that stockpiles last week fell less than some analysts had expected.
U.S. crude futures edged down less than 0.1% to $60.93 a barrel, while Brent, the global gauge of prices, rose 0.1% to $66.17 a barrel.
The dollar edged higher intraday, staying within its narrow range of the last few months as investors bet that U.S. rates will likely remain at their current levels well into next year.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others, was recently up 0.2% at 90.47.
European stocks traded mixed as investors gave a lukewarm reaction to better-than-expected German business confidence data, though a lower pound boosted the FTSE 100. The Stoxx Europe 600 was flat, the DAX dropped 0.4% and the CAC-40 fell 0.02%, but Spanish and Italian markets rise.
The FTSE climbed 0.4% as sterling dropped 0.5% against the dollar and 0.2% against the euro amid fears about a no-deal U.K. exit from the EU.
Japanese stocks ended lower, weighed by falls in pharmaceutical and machinery stocks, one day after the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average rose to a 14-month high. The index closed 0.5% lower at 23934.43
The post Australian market expected to open lower 19/12/19 appeared first on FP Markets.
