Hold onto your soy latte because here are the stories from the S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) and Australian finance circles today. Rask Media has your financial news sorted.
First, here are the data points:
Australian Dollar ($A) (AUDUSD): 72.79 US cents
Dow Jones (DJI): up 2.1%
Oil (WTI): $US61.64 per barrel
Gold: $US1,227 per ounce
Finance News
In overseas finance and economic news, US markets closed sharply higher on Wednesday following the US mid-term elections.
The mid-term elections is when the lower “House” of parliament is voted in by America together with part of the Senate. Of particular note is that the Democratic Party won the House and the Republicans control the Senate, which means they’ll have to work together to get laws passed.
However, many commentators believe the Democratic-led House could launch investigations into Trump and the issues of Russian interference in Presidential elections, the President’s finances and ethics scandals.
If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified Information, and much else, at the Senate level. Two can play that game!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018
In Australian share market news, the online real estate listings company, REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA), released its first-quarter financial information. In the three months to 30 September 2018, REA Group reported revenue of $222 million, up 17%, and free cash flow of $52 million, up 52%.
REA Group CEO, Tracey Fellows was quick to point out that the result separates realestate.com.au from its closest competitors, including Domain Holdings Australia Ltd (ASX: DHG).
“realestate.com.au’s audience lead remains strong, seeing 2.7 times more visits than the nearest competitor over the quarter,” Fellows said.
Read more: REA Group’s cautious outlook
Also in the technology sector, online accounting firm Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) reported its first-half results for its 2019 financial year showing a 37% increase in revenue to $NZ256 million and a net loss of $NZ28.6 million.
“Xero’s half-year results demonstrate strong top and bottom line results with significant improvements in cash flow margins and average revenue per user,” CEO Steve Vamos said.
Xero added 193,000 subscribers during the half-year, taking the total to 1.579 million.
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