Add Category
Updated
It was a quiet night with Wall Street closed for the Independence Day public holiday.
The focus then turned to the major stock markets of Europe and Asia, which all finished in negative territory overnight.
Market snapshot at 8:25am AEST:
- ASX SPI 200 futures +0.1pc to 5,738
- AUD: 76.03 US cents, 58.82 British pence, 66.96 Euro cents, 86.04 Japanese yen, NZ$1.04
- US: Dow Jones closed, S&P 500 closed, Nasdaq closed
- Europe: FTSE -0.3pc to 7,357, DAX -0.3pc to 12,437, Eurostoxx 50 -0.3pc at 3,479
- Commodities: Brent crude -0.1pc to $US49.61/barrel, spot gold +0.3pc at $US1,224/ounce, iron ore -1.7pc to $US63.23/tonne
Despite that, ASX SPI futures were up 0.1 per cent, pointing to a flat or slightly higher open for the Australian share market.
Geopolitical tensions are again heightened, with investors seemingly rattled by North Korea's latest missile test.
The rogue state claims it now has the capability to strike "anywhere in the world".
It is all but certain that North Korea will be a hot topic at the G20 leaders' summit this Friday.
The first meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also happen at this summit.
As an indicator of volatility, gold prices - seen as a 'safe haven' asset - rose almost 0.3 per cent overnight to $US1,223.60 per ounce.
Australian markets today
It is a quiet day for economic news, with the main data release being the Australian Industry Group's services index.
AIG's monthly survey asks service-based companies to rate the relative level of business conditions and today's results are expected to reflect steady expansion.
It would also be tough for the Australian share market to match its performance yesterday.
On Tuesday, the local bourse's value surged by $28 billion, with the benchmark ASX 200 gaining 1.75 per cent in a rally driven by bank stocks.
The Australian dollar tumbled sharply - by about 0.7 per cent - following the Reserve Bank's interest decision.
It was no surprise that the RBA decided to hold the official cash rate at the record low 1.5 per cent - for the eleventh straight month.
Investors were also curious about whether the RBA would follow other central banks - the US, Canada, Europe - in taking a hawkish tone to discuss tightening monetary policy.
"The [Reserve Bank's] accompanying policy statement was more neutral than our team (and clearly the market) had expected, suggesting that the bank still sees policy tightening as distant," said Deutsche Bank analyst Ken Crompton.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, markets, stockmarket, currency, economic-trends, australia
First posted