Good morning and welcome to the Morning Outlook.
I’m Rachael Jones reporting live from Kalkine TV Sydney studio.
The Australian share market is expected to rise this morning. According to the latest SPI futures,
the ASX 200 is likely to open 53 points or 0.7% higher.At the closing bell yesterday,
the best-performing sector was Energy, up 2.1 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Utilities,
down 0.1 per cent. The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was PointsBet Holdings (ASX:PBH),
closing 9.9 per cent higher at $7.31. It was followed by shares in Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) and
PolyNovo (ASX:PNV). The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Magellan Fin Group (ASX:MFG),
closing 6.4 per cent lower at $29.10. It was followed by shares in Nickel
Mines (ASX:NIC) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC).
ANZ and Roy Morgan released their weekly consumer confidence yesterday which increased
1.5 points to 107.5 on the first weekend of December. Consumer confidence is below the
2021 weekly average of 108.1 and now 1.5 points below the same week a year ago, December 7/8,
2020 (109.0). Consumer confidence this week was up in NSW, Queensland and WA,
but saw small reductions in Victoria, SA and Tasmania. This week’s small increase was
driven by Australians becoming more confident about their personal financial situations. Now
29% (up 2 ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last
year compared to 28% (down 1ppt), that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Telstra has invested $616 million to secure 2x10MHz in the Australian Communications
and Media Authority’s 850/900 MHz band auction. This is the maximum amount of ‘low band’ spectrum
Telstra was allowed to bid for under the competition limits set by the Government.
This will help Telstra customers in regional and rural Australia.
Sydney Airport confirms no dividend for 2021
Given the continued significant impact of COVID-19 on the business performance
of Sydney Airport over the second half of the calendar year, the Boards of The Trust
Company and Sydney Airport Limited confirm that there will be no final distribution for 2021.
Nickel Mines has executed a binding Definitive Agreement with its partner
Shanghai Decent Investment to acquire a 70% equity interest in the Oracle Nickel Project
a development project comprising four rotary kiln electric furnace lines that has started
construction within the Indonesia Morowali industrial Park in Central Sulawesi in Indonesia.
The company will purchase the stake for a total consideration of $US371 million, together with the
obligation to provide Oracle Nickel $US154 million of construction funding via shareholder loans.
Now it’s time for a short break – but stay tuned for more news set to effect the trading day.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Welcome back to the Morning Outlook report.
Global and US stocks rose overnight after Chinese stimulus triggered a rally that was further fueled
by views that the Omicron COVID-19 variant would not cause major economic damage. MSCI's
all-country world index advanced 2.17% and the FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 2.42%. On Wall Street,
The Dow Jones rose 1.40%, the S&P 500 gained 2.07% and the NASDAQ advanced 3.03%.
Oil prices climbed more than 3% on easing Omicron concerns and delays to Iranian crude’s return to
the market. Brent crude rose US$2.36 to settle at US$75.44 a barrel. WTI settled up US$2.56
to US$72.05 a barrel. Gold prices inched higher as attention turned to US inflation
data due on Friday, which could influence the pace at which the Fed hikes interest rates.
Easing of Omicron-induced concerns also helped. US gold futures settled up 0.3% at US$1,784.70 an
ounce. Meanwhile, the most-traded May iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange
ended daytime trading 6.7% higher at 659.50 yuan (US$103.56) a tonne. That’s all for our
Morning Outlook report here on Kalkine TV. Have a great day trading and stay tuned for more market
updates and economic news live throughout the day. This is Rachael Jones signing off for now.