The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) looks set to reverse yesterday's gains today with the futures market pointing to a 15-point decline at the opening bell. This is perhaps a result of weakness in base metals, iron ore and gold overnight.
Here's a quick recap:
- FTSE 100 (UK): down 0.54%
- DAX (Germany): down 0.02%
- CAC 40 (France): down 0.25%
- Dow Jones (USA): down 0.37%
- NASDAQ (USA): down 0.28%
The gold price slipped again overnight and is currently fetching US$1,204 an ounce. It has rallied hard over the last month or so, so any declines could threaten to pull shares of miners such as EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) and Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) lower.
Iron ore also retreated 1.3%, according to The Metal Bulletin, while Brent oil gained 0.4%. The Australian dollar was fetching US75.6 cents at the time of writing.
After the market closed yesterday, mining giant BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) released an update regarding Samarco, saying it had reached a preliminary agreement with the Federal Prosecutors' Office in Brazil in relation to the tailings dam failure in November 2015.
The preliminary agreement appears to indicate that the maximum penalty will be around BRL 155 billion, which equates to US$47.5 billion (or $62.8 billion). Meanwhile, the miner also indicated that the restart of operations at Samarco is still a long way off.
CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) and Bega Cheese Ltd (ASX: BGA) will also be in focus again today. Both shares skyrocketed on Thursday, thanks to a profit upgrade from CSL and a strategic acquisition by Bega Cheese. Investors will be hopeful for further gains today.
On the other hand, investors will be hopeful that the losses are stemmed for both Yowie Group Ltd (ASX: YOW) and Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR). Yowie, a chocolate manufacturer, plunged 10% on Thursday as a result of its quarterly earnings while Carsales' shares fell after it announced its long-serving CEO would retire.
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