Market snapshot
- ASX 200 futures: +0.03% to 8,253 points
- Australian dollar: flat at 68.84 US cents
- S&P 500: +0.01% to 5,709 points
- Nasdaq: +0.08% to 17,925 points
- FTSE: +0.1% at 8,290 points
- EuroStoxx: +0.1% to 521 points
- Spot gold: -0.1% to $US2,657/ounce
- Brent crude: +1.4% at $US74.64/barrel
- Iron ore: +0.5% to $US108.60/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.1% to $US60,687
Price current around 7:35am AEST
Live updates on the major ASX indices:
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Ex-dividend stocks
Not a lot of economic news expected today, besides the international trade balance with new vehicle sales and the services PMI.
Companies going ex-dividend include ARB, New Hope and Myer.
Oil prices continue to rise as Middle East conflict changes
As we saw yesterday, markets declined slightly after major escalations in the conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah left investors feeling wary.
But the analysts over at NAB have noted those feelings slightly eased in the last 12 hours or so.
“Risk sentiment has stabilised overnight after Tuesday’s slump on news of Iran’s missile attacks into Tel Aviv,” they wrote in an analyst note.
Oil prices, however, are still trending higher, up another 1.5% or so.
“Now that we’re seeing more direct conflict between Israel and Iran, this changes the equation,” senior energy analyst with MST Marquee, Saul Kavonic, told The Business last night.
“What we need to realise is to date the supply of oil globally has not been impacted by what we’ve seen in the Middle East. But what could happen is we could start to see scenarios where that does happen.”
You can watch his interview below
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ASX set to edge higher after flat session on Wall Street
Good morning and welcome to the ABC’s business and finance blog.
The Australian share market is likely to edge higher when trading begins in a few hours, with ASX futures pointing to a 0.1% rise.
It follows a flat session for US markets as investors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East after Israel and the US vowed to strike back following Iran’s attack.
You can read more on the situation as it unfolds on the live blog here.
Analysts say investors are also on the look out for the US jobs report due on Friday, and earnings season starting at the end of next week.
“We’re near all-time highs, and we know we have a friendly Fed out there,” Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, told Reuters.
“Before they push stocks to another round of new highs, investors want to hear some positive commentary from companies.
“People like that the Fed is very dovish and they are just waiting for another reason to push prices higher.”
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were both flat, while the Nasdaq gained almost 0.1%.
Let’s get to it.
