Local shares are set to open slightly lower to start the week after a weak performance on Wall Street on Friday.
What you need2know:
• SPI futures down 18 points at 5408
• AUD at 89.37 US cents, 97.50 Japanese yen, 69.66 Euro cents and 54.82 British pence.
• On Wall St, S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow +0.1%, Nasdaq -0.3%
• Shares in Alibaba surge 38 per cent in first day of trading
• In Europe, Euro Stoxx 50 +0.1%, FTSE +0.3%, CAC -0.1%, DAX flat
• Iron ore fell 1.6% to $US81.70 per metric tonne
• Spot gold down 0.8%to $US1215.70 an ounce.
• Brent oil rose 0.7% to $US98.39 per barrel on Friday
What’s on today
No items listed today.
Stocks to watch
Morningstar has recommended investors “accumulate” Australian pubs REIT, Hotel
Property Investments and gives it a fair value price expectation of $2.60.
Deutsche Bank has a “buy” rating for engineering and construction company WorleyParsons and a 12-month price expectation of $19.22 a share.
Deutsche Bank has a “buy” rating for supply-chain logistics company, Brambles and a 12-month price expectation of $10.40 a share.
Deutsche Bank has a “buy” rating for engineering company, UGL Limited and a 12-month price expectation of $8.27 a share.
Currencies
The US dollar index advanced for a 10th straight week, the longest since at least March 1967.
The greenback climbed as much as 0.7 per cent to 109.46 yen, the highest since August 2008, before trading at 108.98 yen, up 0.3 per cent. It has gained 1.5 per cent this week.
The US currrency appreciated 0.7 per cent to $US1.2832 per euro, up 1 per cent on the week.
Sterling was the other big mover in the market, jumping to a two-week high against the US dollar and a two-year peak versus the euro, after Scotland voted in a referendum to stay within the United Kingdom. However, the pound fell back on profit-taking in New York trading.
Commodities
Silver shed 3.4 per cent to $US17.84 an ounce on Friday, after touching $US17.76, its lowest since August 2010. Technical selling after silver broke below the $US18 level accelerated the metal's drop, traders said. Earlier in the week, its 50-day moving average fell below its 200-day moving average, a bearish formation known as a death cross.
Copper steadied on Friday and ended the week flat, breaking a string of three straight weekly declines. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) closed down 0.1 per cent at $US6835 a tonne after rebounding from a session low of $US6784.75.
United States
US stocks closed little changed on Friday after Alibaba's strong debut was offset by falling technology shares as Oracle and Yahoo stumbled.
Alibaba took the spotlight after its initial public offering priced at $US68 a share and rose as high as $US99.70 before ending the session up 38 per cent to $US93.89.
Oracle fell 4.2 per cent after Larry Ellison, co-founder and leader for 37 years, stepped aside as chief executive. He will be replaced by co-CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd
Europe
The FTSEurofirst 300 index touched its highest level in more than six years on Friday after Scotland voted against independence, but trimmed gains in late trading on profit taking and on speculation about a credit rating downgrade for France.
"It's a relief rally as the market was viewing the referendum as a bump in the road. Now it is done and dusted and we turn our attention to fundamentals," Commerzbank equity strategist, Peter Dixon, said.
Germany's SAP fell 3.8 per cent, making it among the top losers in the FTSEurofirst 300 index, on concerns over a price tag of $US7.3 billion in cash it would pay to buy US company Concur.
What happened on Friday
The S&P/ASX200 Index advanced 17.3 points, or 0.3pc, to 5433.1.
Friday's gains though weren't enough to prevent the local sharemarket from falling for a second straight week, as investors sell off the big four banks in favour of US-exposed shares.