ASX to dip; RBA Governor grilled over more stimulus

Here's Yahoo Finance's Friday morning wrap. Source: Getty

Good morning.

Here’s Yahoo Finance’s Friday morning wrap.

The ASX is expected to slip at the open, after a multi-month rally in US equity markets stalled over a stalemate in fiscal stimulus talks.

The ASX SPI200 futures index was down 3 points to 6,044, indicating the Aussie share market would open lower.

One Australian dollar was buying 71.46 US cents at 8:00am AEST, down from 71.60 US cents at the close of trade yesterday.

In the US, there were mixed results, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones finishing lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended higher.

‘Losing steam’: While filings for unemployment insurance fell below 1 million for the first time since March, the US’ bid to fire up its economy has stalled.

It comes as the White House struggles to hammer out another round of fiscal stimulus, and hiring falls below last year’s levels.

More stimulus? Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe is set to reveal whether extra supports might be made available to help households and businesses through the Covid-19 crisis, during a parliamentary inquiry on Friday.

"We are interested in learning more about the RBA's plans to support a strong recovery for the Australian economy," Economics committee chair Tim Wilson said.

Concern for carers: From August 27, carers in South Australian nursing homes will not be allowed to work at more than one facility, meaning thousands of workers could face pay cuts, the state’s peak welfare group said.

Uh-oh: Covid-19 hit the cruise line industry like a tidal wave. So, if you invested $10,000 in Norwegian Cruise Line in January, you’d be seeing some major losses.

Here’s how much your shares would be worth now.

Robots aren’t coming: Contrary to fears that the ‘robots are coming’ for Australian jobs, innovation has been declining for years – and this is partly to blame for the lack of new, high-paying jobs, according to Australia Institute Centre for Future Work director Jim Stanford.

In fact, at least 200,000 Australian jobs are under threat due to the absence of business innovation.

Have a great weekend.

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