Welcome to Tuesday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened higher, following gains on Wall Street overnight.The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8% and the broader S&P 500 0.4% while the tech-heavy NASDAQ climbed 0.3%.Crude oil prices fell overnight, with Brent oil down 1.9% to US$58.61 per barrel while iron ore fell again, this time losing 1.5% to US$58.58 per tonne.
The Australian dollar is lower against the US dollar and is currently buying 77.1 US cents.
- Investment bank Goldman Sachs has downgraded the big four banks, with strategist Matthew Ross suggesting they look vulnerable to a weakening economy and tougher regulations.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ASX: ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) could face bigger bad debt provisions if unemployment continues to rise, while they also face tougher regulation given the recommendations by the Murray Financial System Inquiry. - Iron ore continues to fall, losing another 1.5% overnight to US$58.58 per tonne. It's the lowest price in daily data compiled by Metal Bulletin Ltd which started in May 2009.Of course, the red metal traded at less than US$20 per tonne for around 20 years between 1985 and 2005.
- Tweet of the Day
WestBusiness: Rio tells suppliers to 'cut their cloth' to survive in new cost regime. https://t.co/gVEY9dx5hM pic.twitter.com/n2PJNqo0i8
The West Australian (@thewest_com_au) March 9, 2015More pain for mining services companies? Looks like it.
- Stock of the Day– brought to you by Ryan Newman – World Reach Limited (ASX: WRR). The tiny company has doubled in the past week – can it be sustained? Find out here.
