US tech sell-off continues: Aus shares set for sharp fall

13/11/2018 09:15:00

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Australian shares look set to open sharply lower after a sell off continued on Wall Street on Monday. The Dow Jones shed a massive 600 points, dragged down by a decline in Apple shares as well as a rise in the US dollar. Apple shares fell 5 per cent after one of its suppliers cut its outlook, hinting at weak demand for the company's iPhone line. The drop in Apple shares put pressure on the tech sector, with Alphabet and Amazon shares both pulling back. The strong US dollar also hit equities as concerns about global trade continue to weigh on investor sentiment. There are concerns the dollar's strength could be a challenge for the stock market due to the fact that about 40 per cent of the S&P 500 earnings are generated outside the US.

Oil has continued its slide, after the US President tweeted requesting OPEC not cut its production and this could see our energy sector pull back today. Gold has fallen to its lowest level in a month as the US dollar rose .The dollar index which measures the greenback versus a basket of currencies jumped 0.7 per cent on Monday to a 17-month high.

Markets

Wall Street closed lower yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.3 per cent to close at 25,387, the S&P 500 declined almost 2 per cent to 2,726 and the NASDAQ shed 2.8 per cent higher at 7201

European markets closed weaker yesterday: London’s FTSE fell 0.7 per cent, Paris closed 0.9 per cent lower and Frankfurt dropped 1.8 per cent.

Asian markets closed higher, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 1.2 per cent.

On the futures markets, the SPI futures are pointing to a 65 points fall.Yesterday,the Australian share market closed higher with the S&P/ASX 200 Index closing 19 points up to 5941.

Company news

Infratil (ASX:IFT) has released its half year results to the 30th of September and says consolidated underlying earnings (EBITDAF) for the period was $338.8 million up on $54.5 million for the same time last year. Net debt of Infratil and its wholly owned subsidiaries was $916.4 million, up from $779.7 million at the end of March 2028. The infrastructure investment company invested $302 million over the period into energy businesses, transport and its new data centre. Infratil has llfted FY19 earnings (EBITDAF) to $580 to $620 million, up from $779.7 million as at March 2018. Shares in Infratil (ASX:IFT) closed 0.6 per cent lower to $3.33 yesterday.

Ex-dividends

Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) is paying 94 cents fully franked

Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 8:35AM was buying US71.77 cents, 55.85 Pence Sterling, 81.67Yen and 63.97 Euro cents.

Commodities

Iron ore futures are pointing to 0.1 per cent gain
Gold dropped$7.20 to $US1201 an ounce.
Silver was down 16 cents at $US13.98 an ounce.
Oil dropped $1.17 to $US59.19 a barrel.

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin has added 0.2 per cent to US $6396,Ethereum has gained 0.2 per cent to US$210 and Bitcoin Cash fell 2.1 per cent to US$516.