Thanks @Quantum Torus@Ravgnome and AM Longers. Sweet tunes from one of my fave artists - Peter **riel, playing in the Lounge over the weekend. I hope all the Mums had a good day yesterday and all the sons and daughters were good to the woman who brought them into the world.
The final round of the English Premier League this morning saw no changes in the top four - Man City, Man Utd, Tottenham and Liverpool (sorry Chelsea) who get entry into the Champions League and and bottom three - Swansea, Stoke and West Brom who will be relegated. Great season - bring on the Europa League, FA Cup Final and CL Finals then the WC!!
The Australian share market softened in late trade to finish the day in the red but ended the week around one per cent stronger, as big resource players benefit from soaring oil prices and sustained strength in iron ore.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 was down 2.5 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 6,116.2 points, with the miners strong, banks mixed and Telstra shares around one per cent firmer.
Morgans senior client adviser Bill Chatterton said BHP Billiton had benefited from the recent rise in global oil prices while a strong showing from iron ore had also boosted the resources giant and its rival, Rio Tinto.
Iron ore player Fortescue Metals closed up 1.9 per cent at $4.93 while Rio Tinto jumped 1.1 per cent to $83.88.
BHP Billiton gained 1.3 per cent to $33.16 and is at a near-four-year high on the back of gains since April.
The big four banks were between 0.6 and 0.9 per cent weaker, with the exception of ANZ, which added 0.3 per cent to $28.15
Telstra shares lifted one per cent to $3.20 after shedding 2.5 per cent on Thursday.
Mr Chatterton said interest is growing in Telstra's 5G network roll out.
"Up until quite recently really I don't think the market was focusing on that at all and it's potentially quite a game changer," Mr Chatterton said.
In companies news, REA Group shares hit an all time high of $89.16 before closing at $88.71, up 5.2 per cent, after the real estate listings specialist reported a 19 per cent increase in quarterly earnings, despite lower Australian listing volumes.
News Corp - REA's majority owner - gained 0.8 per cent to $22.50 after it posted a third-quarter net loss of $US1.1 billion ($A1.46 billion), mainly due to revaluing of Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia.
Service station group Caltex jumped 1.9 per cent to $30.45 after reporting unaudited figures showed first quarter profit was $172 million, up from $161 million the same period a year ago.
GrainCorp lost one per cent to $7.74 after announcing dry weather in Queensland and northern NSW had slashed its harvest and shrivelled half year profit by almost two thirds.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is back above 75 US cents after the greenback moderated on the softer-than-expected US inflation numbers.
At 1700 AEST, the Australian dollar was trading at 75.38 US cents, from 74.69 US cents on Thursday.
ON THE ASX:
* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 closed down 2.5 points, or 0.04 per cent, at 6,116.2 points
* The broader All Ordinaries index closed down 0.5 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 6,216.4 points.
* The SPI200 futures contract was steady at 6,097 points
* National turnover was 1.3 billion securities traded worth $2.5 billion
CURRENCY SNAPSHOT AT 1700 AEST:
One Australian dollar buys:
* 75.38 US cents, from 74.69 on Thursday
* 82.45 Japanese yen, from 82.08 yen
* 63.36 euro cents, from 62.94 euro cents
* 55.79 British pence, from 55.10 pence
* 108.20 NZ cents, from 107.86 cents
GOLD:
The spot price of gold in Sydney at 1700 AEST was $US1,319.07 per fine ounce, from $US1,312.21 per fine ounce on Thursday.
BOND SNAPSHOT AT 1630 AEST:
* CGS 5.75 per cent May 2021, 2.1575pct, from 2.1615pct at Thursday's close
* CGS 2.25pct May 2028, 2.7828pct, from 2.7738pct
Sydney Futures Exchange prices:
* June 2018 10-year bond futures contract was 97.205 (implying a yield of 2.795pct), from 97.21 (2.79pct) on Thursday
* June 2018 3-year bond futures contract was 97.80 (2.20pct), from 97.795 (2.205pct)
(*Bond market closes taken at 1630 AEST previous local session; currency closes taken from 1700 AEST previous local session)
The Australian share market is expected to open slightly higher this morning after a strong week for most major markets including seven consecutive weeks of gains for the European market.
CommSec chief economist Craig James says wage figures and employment will be the domestic highlights, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics wage price index - measuring growth for the March quarter - due on Wednesday.
High petrol prices will remain on the radar of the "ordinary" consumer, as will future government by-elections and pending opposition agreement over the tax reform package, announced in the budget last Tuesday, he said.
"There may be a few more people digesting the budget, the winners and losers, and continuing to watch the developments in terms of the construction and engineering sector for new projects that are getting started," Mr James said.
"We had a little bit of retreat on Friday in terms of oil prices but overall the market remains tight. We've got strong global demand and limited supplies."
Mr James forecast a market gain of four points on Monday, with only a modest gain for energy and materials stocks.
"We've had a good week last week for most of the major markets. In fact, in Europe, they've had seven straight weeks of gains - the longest winning streak in three years," he said.
"We're in the confessional period and that will finish up in late June so those companies wanting to provide a bit of guidance about their earnings, now is the time to do it," Mr James said, noting recent "reasonably positive" results such as Qantas flagging an expected record pre-tax profit.
Rather than "languishing in the 74 cents area" the Australian dollar finished the week trading at 75.38 US cents.
Mr James said a softer greenback is good news for export-focused or globally- focused companies in the US.
The S&P 500 rose on Friday, helped by healthcare stocks after President Donald Trump blasted high drug prices but avoided taking aggressive measures to cut them.
Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer each rose over 1 percent while Merck & Co jumped 2.8 percent after Trump in a speech said foreign governments “extort” unreasonably low prices from U.S. drugmakers. His healthcare deputies released a series of proposals to address high drug costs.
“They’ve walked the tightrope between cost savings for the American people and maximizing profits for publicly traded healthcare stocks,” said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The S&P healthcare index ended 1.47 percent higher, while the Nasdaq Biotechnology index rallied 2.68 percent.
The tech sector slipped 0.32 percent, with Apple Inc dropping 0.38 percent after a nine-day winning streak that saw the iPhone maker edge closer to $1 trillion in market capitalization.
Also weighing on tech was Nvidia, which fell 2.15 percent on worries that a short-term surge in demand for graphics chips from cryptocurrency miners may be undermining the company’s core business with computer gamers.
“Tech is giving back some of its gains. Market participants are not making aggressive bets after the week we’ve had, heading into the weekend,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services in Atlanta. “We’re in a holding pattern today, digesting the strong gains of the week.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.37 percent to end at 24,831.17 points, while the S&P 500 gained 0.17 percent to 2,727.72, its highest close since mid-March. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.03 percent to 7,402.88.
For the week, the Dow rose 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 added 2.4 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.7 percent.
During Friday’s session, the Dow edged above 100-day moving average for the first time since April 18, following the S&P 500’s similar move a day earlier. Some traders believe such developments mean the market is likely to move higher.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 5.8 billion shares, light compared with the 6.6 billion-share average over the last 20 trading days.
With March-quarter reports mostly wrapped up, S&P 500 companies appear to have grown their earnings per share by 26 percent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Due to increased expectations for corporate profits and a dip in stock prices since January, the S&P 500 is now trading at 16 times expected earnings, its lowest multiple in two years, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream.
“We have very strong fundamentals from an earnings perspective and valuations are looking a bit more reasonable than they were late last year,” said Bill Northey, senior vice president at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
Boosting the Dow was Verizon, which rose 3 percent after JPMorgan upgraded the wireless carrier to “overweight,” saying 5G opportunity will start to crystallize in the next few months.
Symantec slumped 33 percent after the Norton Antivirus maker said it was investigating concerns raised by a former employee.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.24-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.23-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 30 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 137 new highs and 51 new lows.
Source: Netwealth Morning Business Roundup
Pizza for brekkie this morning. Probably not the one you're used to. It's Oat and Yoghurt Fruit Pizza accompanied by some Vitamin C filled Orange Juice. The coffee machine has been fired up ready for @paddington bear.
In consideration of others, PLEASE include the STOCK CODE in all your posts.
Happy trading, play nicely and make informed decisions.
