Welcome to Wednesday. 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 0.4% lower after US markets plunged overnight.
The Dow Jones dropped 1% as did the broader S&P 500, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 1.1%.
Oil prices also fell with Brent Crude Oil losing 2.4% to US$63.97 per barrel while WTI Crude lost 2.8% to US$58.03 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.)Iron ore prices surged 2.6% to US$62.78 per tonne overnight.
The Australian dollar is falling against the US dollar and is currently buying 78.2 US cents.
- Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) is reportedly struggling with its own "Masters disaster" – in reference to the struggles of Woolworths Limited's (ASX: WOW) hardware business Masters. But rather than hardware, Wesfarmers hasn't been able to grow its First Choice liquor chain like Woolworths' highly successful Dan Murphy's.The giant conglomerate could also be facing a few headwinds at its own hardware chain Bunnings, as we wrote yesterday.
- Programmed Maintenance Services Limited (ASX: PRG) has reported a 5% fall in adjusted net profit on flat revenues for the 2015 financial year. The blame can be laid squarely at the feet of the company's Resources division and more bad news could be on it way as resource investment continues to drop.Shareholders may well be hoping the merger with Skilled Group Ltd. (ASX: SKE) goes ahead.
Programmed shares are up 3% at the open, suggesting the result was better than expected.
- Tweet of the Day
GOTTLIEBSEN: A $1m nest egg no longer counts for much in our low-yield world https://t.co/cFAvLGbmFJ pic.twitter.com/4bkUkrZsmS
Business Review (@aus_business) May 26, 2015 - Stock of the Day – brought to you by Rick Mooney – Sigma Pharmaceutical Limited (ASX: SIP). Want to know more about the pharmaceuticals company? Find out here.
