The S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is tipped to fall when trading opens this morning. The Sydney Futures Exchange is pointing to a 31-point fall, with gold miners expected to be hit hard.
Here's a quick recap:
- FTSE 100 (UK): up 1.3%
- DAX (Germany): up 1.0 %
- CAC 40 (France): up 1.1%
- Dow Jones (USA): down 0.5%
- NASDAQ (USA): down 0.2%
The gold miners could come under heavy selling pressure today after the spot gold price plunged below US$1,300 an ounce. The shiny metal fell 3.3% to less than US$1,270 – its lowest level since June – which is likely to weigh on businesses such as Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM).
Others such as Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST), EVOLUTION FPO (ASX: EVN) and OceanaGold Corporation Ltd (ASX: OGC) are also worth keeping an eye on.
August retail sales data are due today, which could see shares of JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH), Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) and other retailers remain in focus.
Henderson Group plc (ASX: HGG) and Bradken Limited (ASX: BKN) were among the market's biggest movers on Tuesday. Shares of Bradken, which received a takeover offer, are now trading within 2% of the takeover price so are unlikely to move much today, but Henderson Group could remain in focus after it announced it will merge with US rival Janus Capital Group Inc.
Other companies that will likely be on investors' radars include TPG Telecom Ltd (ASX: TPM) and Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL). Both have fallen considerably in price in recent weeks.