Morning (AM) Market Report

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Published on Wednesday, 24 August 2016 00:00

U.S. share markets finished slightly higher overnight after data showed new home sales had surged to their highest levels in nearly eight years.

Wednesday, 24th August, 2016

New home sales rose 12.4 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 in July, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

At the close the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

Shares of Best Buy (BBY) soared after the release of better-than-expected second-quarter results, highlighted by a domestic comps increase of 0.8% (versus expectations for flat growth), adjusted earnings per share of $0.57 (well ahead of the $0.38-$0.42 guidance range), and an upbeat outlook for the back half of the year. Tableau Software's (DATA) rocky 2016 has resulted in a managerial change, after the company announced that founder and CEO Christian Chabot will relinquish control over day-to-day operations to former Amazon Web Services Vice President of Sales Adam Selipsky.

For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton added $1.04 (3.29%) to $32.69, ResMed lost $2.46 (-3.53%) to $67.32, Telstra Corporation lost 11 cents (-0.51%) to $21.69 and Westpac rose 29 cents (1.27%) to $23.20. At 8:00 am (AEST), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 1.55% and the 5-year yield was 1.13%.

European markets ended higher on the back of a stronger-than-expected gauge of European private-sector activity, media reports said. The FTSE 100, French CAC 40 and Germany's DAX gained 0.6%, 0.7% and 0.9%, respectively. Asian markets finished mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2%, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.6%, and both the Hang Seng Index and India's Sensex finished flat.

Ahead of the local open, SPI futures were 18 points higher at 5,533.