Global Markets Report - 23 October
ASX set to open higher, after US stocks overcame some early weakness but still ended little changed.
Australia
Australian shares are set to open higher, after US stocks overcame some early weakness but still ended little changed.
ASX futures were up 0.27% or 23 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a higher open.
Major US stock ended near flat as traders weighed mixed results on a busy day of corporate earnings.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 declined less than 0.1%. The indexes pared the morning's steeper losses as traders pored over a bonanza of quarterly earnings from big companies.
In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was up 1.7% to US$75.58 a barrel, while gold was up 1.1% to US$2,749.01.
The Australian dollar was at 66.80 US cents, up from its previous close of 66.56.
Asia
Chinese shares closed higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5% to 3,285.87, and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 0.9% to 1,953.64.
Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 0.1% to 20,498.95.
Japanese shares closed lower. The Nikkei Stock Average lost 1.4% to 38,411.96.
India shares ended lower. The BSE SENSEX fell 1.1% to 80,220.72.
Europe
Stocks in the U.K. finished lower. The FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.1% to 8,306.54.
In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% to 19,421.91, and France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 7,535.10.
North America
U.S. stocks ended mixed. The DJIA was unchanged at 42,924.89, the S&P 500 was unchanged at 5,851.20, and the Nasdaq increased 0.2% to 18,573.13.
Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were Philip Morris International Inc, surging 10.51%, General Motors Co jumped 9.42%, and Quest Diagnostics Inc lifted 6.93%.
The biggest decliners were Genuine Parts Co which dropped 20.38%, GE Aerospace fell 8.78%, and PulteGroup Inc lost 7.02%.