Markets traded close to flat on lighter newsflow as reporting season now nears its end. The Dow Jones was the only one of the major indexes to finish in the green and extended its winning streak to six days.
The Dow closed 0.44 per cent higher. The S&P 500 closed unchanged and the Nasdaq just tipped into the red closing down by 0.18 per cent.
In company news, Uber shares fell 5.7 per cent after reporting a surprise loss and softer than expected bookings revenue. Intel lost more than 2 per cent after the chipmaker lowered its second quarter revenue guidance. Tesla shares dipped 1.7 per cent after Reuters reported that U.S. prosecutors are looking into whether the company committed wire fraud as part of a probe into Tesla’s Autopilot systems. Amgen and JPMorgan Chase were among the biggest contributors of gains to the Dow, advancing more than 2 per cent each.
In economic news, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Wednesday that the Fed’s interest rate policy will likely need to remain at its current level until inflation is moving “sustainably” toward the central bank’s 2 per cent target.
Goldman Sachs predicts OPEC will extend oil production cuts in June, with Saudi crude supply expected to remain steady at 9 million barrels a day in July. Additionally, the Biden administration has raised the price ceiling for replenishing the US emergency oil reserves to $79.99 per barrel, facilitating improved hedging opportunities for potential bidders.
Turning to US sectors, the best performer was Utilities which closed 1.05 per cent higher. The worst performing sector was Real estate which closed down 0.9 per cent.
In European news, Sweden’s central bank surprised markets by cutting interest rates for the first time in eight years on Wednesday in another sign of monetary policy divergence between the U.S. and Europe.
Futures
The SPI futures are pointing to a 0.2 per cent fall.
Currency
One Australian dollar at 7.30am was buying 65.78 US cents.
Commodities
Gold lost 0.08 per cent. Silver gained 0.21 per cent. Copper lost 1.37 per cent. Oil was up 0.78 per cent.
Figures around the globe
European markets closed higher. London’s FTSE gained 0.49 per cent, Frankfurt added 0.37 per cent, and Paris closed 0.69 per cent higher.
Turning to Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 1.63 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.90 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite closed 0.61 per cent lower.
The Australian share market closed 0.14 per cent higher at 7,804.49.
Ex-dividends
Future Generation Australia (ASX:FGX) is paying 3.35 cents fully franked
United Overseas Australia (ASX:UOS) is paying 2 cents unfranked
Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) is paying 90 cents fully franked
Dividends payable
Arena REIT (ASX:ARF)
Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet, IRESS, TradingView, UBS, Bourse Data, Trading Economics, CoinMarketCap.
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