US sharemarkets were modestly lower on Tuesday. Shares in Target rose by 4.6% with Kohl's up 7.3% after both retailers delivered positive earnings guidance for 2019. But shares in General Electric fell by 4.7% after the chief executive says free cash flow will be negative in 2019. After trading in a 152-point range, the Dow Jones index was lower by 13 points or 0.1%. The S&P500 index fell by 0.1%. And the Nasdaq index was down by 1 point or less than 0.1%.
* US tre...
US sharemarkets were modestly lower on Tuesday. Shares in Target rose by 4.6% with Kohl's up 7.3% after both retailers delivered positive earnings guidance for 2019. But shares in General Electric fell by 4.7% after the chief executive says free cash flow will be negative in 2019. After trading in a 152-point range, the Dow Jones index was lower by 13 points or 0.1%. The S&P500 index fell by 0.1%. And the Nasdaq index was down by 1 point or less than 0.1%.
* US treasuries were broadly flat. Economic data was better-than-expected. Investors also look ahead to speeches from Federal Reserve officials and key US jobs data on Friday. US 2-year yields were flat at 2.545% and US 10-year yields fell by 1 point to 2.715%.
* Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar in US and European trade compared with the Asia close. The Euro fell from US$1.1335 to US$1.1290 and was near US$1.1305 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US70.60 cents to highs near US70.85 cents and was near the highs in late US trade. And the Japanese yen held between 111.79 yen per US dollar and JPY112.09 and was near JPY111.87 in late US trade.
* Global oil prices were mixed on Tuesday. The restart of some wells in the Libya's El Sharara oilfield kept a cap on prices. The field, which has a capacity of 315,000 barrels a day in supply, had been closed since December. Brent crude rose by US19 cents or 0.3% to US$65.86 a barrel and the US Nymex price fell by US3 cents to US$56.56 a barrel.
* Base metal prices were higher by up to 3.1% on Tuesday with nickel up the most with copper up 1.3% and zinc up 1.1%. But lead fell 0.5% and aluminium fell 0.1%.
* The gold futures price fell by US$2.80 an ounce or 0.2% to $1,284.70 an ounce. The spot gold price was near US$1,286 an ounce in late US trade. Iron ore rose by US$1.20 or 1.4% to US$88.00 a tonne.
Ahead: In Australia December quarter economic growth data is released. The Reserve Bank Governor delivers a speech. In the US, the ADP employment report is released with December trade. The Beige Book is released. Federal Reserve governors Mester and Williams deliver speeches
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