Following weak leads from US markets and more downside in commodities prices the Australian share market looks to kick off 2015 with a flat start in one day of light trade ahead of the weekend break. In the US, the S&P 500 closed 53 times at a record in 2014 and gained around 11 per cent over the year after a 30 per cent rally in 2013.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9 per cent to close at 17,823, the S&P 500 lost 1 per cent to close at 2,059 and the NASDAQ slipped 0.9 per cent to close at 4,736.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE added 0.3 per cent, Paris gained 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt dropped 1.2 per cent.
Asian markets also closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.4 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted 2.2 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower in a short trading day on Wednesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 6 points down to finish at 5,411. On the futures market the SPI 1 point up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:25AM was buying 81.76 US cents, 52.52 Pence Sterling, 97.93 Yen and 67.61 Euro cents.
Company news
CuDeco Limited
(ASX:CDU) has requested a trading halt from the ASX pending the release of an announcement by the company. CuDeco recently announced that it was testing some of the highest copper grades in the world at its Rocklands copper mine in QLD. Two of the eleven ore bodies at the mine encompass a unique supergene-enriched zone that is yielding up to 47 per cent ore purity. The trading halt will remain in place until Monday January 5 or when an announcement is released to the market. Shares in Cudeco last traded on Wednesday, up 13.04 per cent to $1.95.
Seven Group Holdings
(ASX:SVW) has advised the market that the deed of company arrangement with Nexus Energy
(ASX:NXS) has completed and Nexus is now a subsidiary of Seven Group Holdings. The long awaited approval from the NSW Supreme court allowed the full ownership of Nexus Energy to be transferred to Seven for around $180 million. The Nexus board has also seen the resignation of Symon Drake-Brockman and John Hartwell and the appointment of Richard Richards as non-executive director. Shares in Seven Group Holdings last traded 0.52 per cent higher at $5.82
Ex-dividends 1 company is going ex-dividend today: Clime Capital
(ASX:CAM) will pay a dividend of 1.15 cents fully franked.
Commodities
Gold is down $16.30 to $US1,184 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.68 to $15.60 for March. Copper is down $0.03 at $2.83 a pound. Oil is down $0.85 at US$53.27 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
