Overseas Market Report – U.S. Stocks End Mixed after Oil Slides
U.S. stocks wobbled and oil tumbled Monday, as markets struggled to regain their footing following last week's bruising start to the year.
Oil prices in the U.S. dropped below US$32 a barrel for the first time since 2003, pummelled by a stronger dollar and worries over Chinese demand. The slide battered shares of energy companies, with S&P 500 energy stocks down 1.8%.
The Dow and S&P 500 closed up 0.3% and 0.1% respectively, while the NASDAQ fell 0.1%.
Shares of Alcoa (AA) were down ahead of earnings and following reports the company would announce a US$1.5-billion contract with General Electric (GE).
Baxalta (BXLT) fell on news that Shire (SHPG) would buy the drug manufacturer in a deal valued at about US$32 billion.
Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) dropped on continued weakness in commodities prices.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton slipped 53 cents (2.50%) to $21.41, ResMed gained 28 cents (0.54%) to $52.40, Telstra Corporation gained 31 cents (1.70%) to $18.54, Spark New Zealand slipped 3 cents (0.29%) to $10.41 and Westpac declined 8 cents (0.47%) to $21.31.
At 7:45 AM (AEDT), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 2.16% and the 5-year yield was 1.59%.
European stocks started the week on a down note.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.7%, while the French CAC 40 fell 0.5% and Germany's DAX dropped 0.3%.
Asian shares sold off again on Monday as China's central bank attempted to strengthen the yuan slightly.
The Shanghai Composite tumbled 5.3%, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.4% and the Hang Seng lost 2.8%. India's Sensex fell 0.4%.
Australian Market Report – Local Market Expected To Open Higher
Ahead of the local open, SPI futures were 13 points higher at 4,879.
The Australian market had a weak start to this week. Local shares experienced broad-based losses as the sluggish Chinese economic growth and falling commodity prices continued to weigh on the market. Despite a slight resurgence in late afternoon trade, the local sharemarket closed far below the flat-line. All sectors finished lower, with only information technology and telecommunication services posting small gains. The Australian dollar appreciated against most major currencies.
The All Ordinaries dropped 58.70 points (-1.16%) to 4,990.70 while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 58.60 points (-1.17%) to 4,932.20.
In This Issue
Mesoblast (MSB)
Mesoblast announced that the size of the ongoing Phase 3 trial in chronic heart failure of its proprietary cell-based medicine MPC-150-IM is planned to be substantially reduced. This follows communications last month between the Company's development and commercial partner, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and the United States Food and Drug Administration. In the completed Phase 2 trial, patients treated with MPC-150-IM had no HF-MACE over 36 months of follow-up, compared with 11 HF-MACE events in the control group. In patients with advanced heart failure as defined by baseline Left Ventricular Systolic Volume >100ml, who closely resemble the patients being recruited in the Phase 3 trial, 71% of controls had at least one HF-MACE event vs 0 of those who received a single injection of MPC-150-IM (p<0.001). MSB lost 4 cents (-2.58%) to $1.70.
Origin Energy (ORG)
Origin Energy announced that it has confirmed the first shipment of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has departed the Australia Pacific LNG facility on Curtis Island in Qld. The Methane Spirit departed Curtis Island near Gladstone on 9 January 2016. ORG slid 19 cents (-4.28%) to $4.25.
Recent Contacts & Presentations
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