The Australian share market has closed lower as increasing tensions between the US and Russia over Syria unnerve investors.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed down 13.2 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,815.5 points while the broader All Ordinaries was down 14.4 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,911.4 points.
On Wall Street overnight, stocks closed lower after US President Donald Trump warned Russia of imminent military action in Syria, declaring missiles "will be coming".
Phillip Capital senior client adviser Michael Heffernan said trading on the local bourse was lacklustre, and the market had been dragged back by President Trump's comment.
"Trump has lobbed a grenade into the market and the world," Mr Heffernan said.
"It's Syria now - it's not trade, it's not tariffs."
However the US futures market was higher in afternoon trading (AEST) suggesting that the next session of trading on US markets may be positive.
On the local bourse, weakness in the heavyweight banking sector outweighed gains among some of the major miners.
Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank fell 0.5 per cent to $28.71, Commonwealth Bank lost 0.8 per cent at $73.09, Westpac retreated 0.6 per cent to $28.95, and ANZ dropped 0.3 per cent to $26.82.
In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton rose 0.7 per cent to $29.64, Rio Tinto added 0.3 per cent to $76.70, but Fortescue Metals lost 0.4 per cent to $4.45.
The threat of US missiles being launched against Syria pushed up oil prices overnight, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate oil rising to their highest levels since 2014 before tempering somewhat in later futures trade.
Locally on Thursday oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum lifted 0.1 per cent to $30.48, Santos was steady at $5.97, and Oil Search advanced 1.3 per cent to $7.59.
Among other stocks, logistics firm Brambles descended 17 cents, or 1.7 per cent, to $9.62 as it announced it will book a $US4.9 million non-cash impairment after selling its 50 per cent stake in an energy joint venture.
Bubs Australia jumped seven cents, or 9.2 per cent, to 83 cents after the baby food maker said its recent acquisition of goat milk products maker NuLac Foods had helped significantly boosted third-quarter sales.
Outdoor advertiser oOh!media fell seven cents, or 1.5 per cent, to $4.72 after having its takeover bid for Here, There & Everywhere's (HT&E) out-of-home business Adshel rejected.
Jewellery chain Michael Hill International was flat at $1.12 after saying the closure of its nine loss-making US stores will cost about $US4.5 million ($A6m) in terminated lease agreements and staff severances.
Meanwhile, higher prices for some commodities helped boost the Australian dollar against a weaker US dollar.
At 1700 AEST, the Aussie was worth 77.48 US cents, up from 77.45 US cents on Wednesday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 13.2 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 5,815.5 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 14.5 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 5,911.4 points
* The SPI200 futures contract was down 12 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 5,796 points
* National turnover was 3.3 billion securities traded worth $5.6 billion.
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 77.48 US cents, from 77.45 on Wedneday
* 82.81 Japanese yen, from 82.92 yen
* 62.69 euro cents, from 62.59 euro cents
* 54.64 British pence, from 54.52 pence
* 105.10 NZ cents, from 105.28 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,350.249 per fine ounce, from 1,344.30 per fine ounce on Wednesday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEST:
* CGS 4.50 per cent April 2020, 2.0286pct, from 2.0288pct, on Wednesday
* CGS 4.75pct April 2027, 2.633pct, from 2.648ppct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* June 2018 10-year bond futures contract was 97.325 (implying a yield of 2.675pct), from 97.310 (2.690pct) on Wednesday
* June 2018 3-year bond futures contract was 97.83 (2.17pct), from 97.82 (2.18pct).
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEST previous local session)
U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday as investors anticipated a strong earnings season and as U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that a military strike on Syria may not be imminent ratcheted down geopolitical worries.
The S&P 500 has now recouped nearly all its losses from earlier this year.
Trump said in a tweet on Thursday that a possible attack on Syria could occur “very soon or not so soon at all,” easing fears of confrontation with Russia.
That lifted U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR, leading to a 1.8 percent increase in financial stocks .SPSY, which had the biggest percentage advance among the S&P’s 11 major sectors.
The technology sector .SPLRCT rose 1.3 percent, adding the most gains to the S&P.
“We’re hearing less talk of firing missiles and less talk of trade war,” said Michael Antonelli, managing director of institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee. “Earnings are coming up and expectations are high.”
The earnings season begins in earnest on Friday with reports from JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N).
Analysts expect quarterly profit for S&P 500 companies to rise 18.4 percent from a year ago, in what would be the biggest gain in seven years, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
“People are looking forward to earnings season,” said Tracie McMillion, head of global asset allocation strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Market participants are not wanting to miss out if (earnings are) as good as the forecasts say they will be.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 293.6 points, or 1.21 percent, to 24,483.05, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 21.8 points, or 0.83 percent, to 2,663.99, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 71.22 points, or 1.01 percent, to 7,140.25.
Investor sentiment was also boosted by the weekly U.S. initial jobless claims report, which pointed to sustained labor market strength.
Facebook Inc (FB.O) was a notable laggard among technology stocks, falling 1.5 percent following a 5.3 percent gain over the past two days when Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress on the social network’s data security.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE for a 1.20-to-1 ratio and on the Nasdaq, for a 1.84-to-1 ratio.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.12 billion shares, compared to the 7.27 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Finish off the week with some Coconut and Chia Muesli. Coffee for those who need it or want it.
Shout out to @Endless - thought we'd be getting some holiday snaps. Must be having too good a time.
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Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions
