Company Interview / the open: ASX to open lower, whilst silver soars

The local market is set to start the trading week lower, with ASX futures pointing down 3 points. 

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, whilst the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were up marginally. Tesla shares were down after investment company, Baird had downgraded the company on Elon Musk’s political activities, saying the recent incident between Musk and Trump exemplifies key risks associated with Musk’s political views. 

Trade talks began in London between the United States and China, aimed at cooling a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. Meanwhile, US economic data showed wholesale inventories increased in April amid stockpiling of prescription medication in anticipation of tariffs from the Trump administration. 

OPEC oil output rose in the month of May, but oil prices hit multi-week highs yesterday, buoyed by a weaker US dollar. Gold prices edged higher, whilst silver surged past $35/oz to hit a more than 13-year high. 

Today, the NAB monthly business survey is due, along with the monthly consumer confidence read. The focus will be on US-China trade developments, the Australian Federal election outcome and the Reserve Bank’s (RBA) recent rate cut.