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 after Wall Street reversed course overnight.In the US, the Dow Jones jumped 1.2% while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.9%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ emulated the Dow with a 1.3% gain. China has moved to boost lending and generate more growth while an estimated 76% of US S&P 500 companies reporting so far have topped analysts' earnings expectations.Oil prices also reversed course, with Brent Crude Oil adding 0.1% to US$63.50 per barrel, and WTI Crude up 1.3% to US$56.46 per barrel. (WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate and is the benchmark oil price in the US while the Brent crude oil price is more widely used in Europe.)
The Australian dollar is stronger against the US dollar and is currently buying 77.2 US cents.
- Even RBA governor Glenn Stevens thinks Sydney house prices aren't cheap or even fairly priced at the moment – labelling them 'rather exuberant', in his usual laidback style.
But that's just one issue the RBA governor will have to consider at next month's board meeting and factor into discussions on whether to lower the official cash rate below its current 2.25% level.
Kicking Australia's economy into life with an interest rate cut could also see property prices surge ever higher. - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (CHESS) (ASX: SGT), owner of Optus, intends to delist from the ASX due to low trading volumes. An average of around $4 million worth of shares is traded daily on the ASX. Singtel, as the company is known has its primary listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Existing Singtel shareholders will be given a number of options to maintain their holding through the Singapore Stock Exchange or sell their ASX-listed Singtel shares for cash. - Tweet of the Day
Know what you own, and know why you own it. – Peter Lynch pic.twitter.com/1wbkGt24nN
The Motley Fool (@themotleyfool) April 20, 2015 - Stock of the Day – brought to you by myself – Select Harvests Limited (ASX: SHV). California, the world's largest producer of almonds is entering its fourth year of drought – causing almond prices up. It's good news for Select – as you can read here.
