Welcome to Monday Fools. 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 0.9% lower.
In the US, the Dow Jones gained 0.2%, as did the broader S&P 500, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ posted a 0.6% rise.In the US on Friday, the Dow Jones gained 0.2%, as did the broader S&P 500, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ posted a 0.6% rise.
Oil prices continued their topsy-turvy ride, with Brent Crude Oil losing 4.7% to US$56.41 per barrel, and WTI Crude dropped to US$48.11 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 down against the US dollar and is currently buying 77.4 US cents.
- Spot iron ore prices crashed 4% on Friday to a six-year low of US53.14 per tonne. Clearly our iron ore miners, particularly the juniors including Arrium Limited (ASX: ARI), BC Iron Limited (ASX: BCI), Atlas Iron Limited (ASX: AGO), Mount Gibson Iron Limited (ASX: MGX) and even the much larger Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) could be in for a torrid time today.
At the open, all were in negative territory bar Mount Gibson, which has a substantial cash balance keeping a floor under the stock.
The problem for investors is that the iron ore price could fall further as colleague Ryan Newman discussed earlier today.
- Internet service provider (ISP) iiNet Limited (ASX: IIN) says subscription video on demand (SVOD) service Netflix is already accounting for 15% of the ISP's traffic.
That's astonishing, given US giant Netflix only launched in Australia last week and features a much cut down version of its US programming. It's true that iiNet was offering quota free downloads of Netflix content, as part of its partnership with the streaming giant.Netflix has also signed an agreement with Optus – owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (CHESS) (ASX: SGT) – which also allows Optus customers to stream Netflix content quota free.
- Stock of the Day– brought to you by Matt Brazier – Servcorp Limited (ASX: SRV). Overlooked by many fund managers, the serviced office company is experiencing strong growth, with more on the way. View more details here.
- Tweet of the Day
A new kind of bank robbery, @MichaelWestBiz shines light on dynamic currency conversion @BusinessDay #ausbiz https://t.co/uHUGe8g3ct via @smh
— Business Day (@BusinessDay) March 29, 2015
Be careful when paying for goods and services overseas – you may get slugged with more fees.
