Following a horror night on Wall Street where returning traders slashed billions off the Dow and oil prices slipped below the $50 mark, the Australian share market is set for a bumpy ride today. European stocks also fell sharply with fresh concerns over looming election in Greece and sinking commodity prices. The Aussie dollar is also trading lower.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.9 per cent to close at 17,502, the S&P 500 lost 1.8 per cent to close at 2,021 and the NASDAQ lost 1.6 per cent to close at 4,653.
European markets also closed lower: London’s FTSE dropped 2 per cent, Paris shed 3.3 per cent and Frankfurt fell 3 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 3.6 per cent.
The Australian share market closed slightly higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 14 points up to finish at 5,450. On the futures market the SPI is 85 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying 80.88US cents, 53.04 Pence Sterling, 96.73 Yen and 67.78 Euro cents.
In economic news: Due out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are international trade figures for goods and services in November
To company news:
Seven West Media Limited
(ASX:SWM) has reluctantly accepted the resignation of it Chief Financial Officer, Dave Boorman. The resignation comes less than six weeks after the loss of chief operator officer Nick Chan as part of a management shakeup and restructure. The company also recently flagged an up to 10 per cent dip first half on the back of softness in the TV advertising market. Deputy CFO Warwick Lynch will take over until a replacement is found. Shares in Seven West Media last traded 0.36 per cent lower at $1.37.
Asian American Medical Group Limited
(ASX:AJJ) says it will close its wholly owned subsidiary Asian American Bone Marrow Transplant Centre. The closure comes after the resignation of the AABMT Centre Director, Dr Yvonne Ming. Dr Ming was the only practicing Haematologist in the business and as a result the business was forced to close. The company will now focus on its core business, the Asian Amercian Live Centre.
Shares in Asian American Medical Group sees little trade and closed flat yesterday at $0.08.
Ex-Dividends 2 companies are going ex-dividend today: Programmed Maintenance Services Limited
(ASX:PRG) will pay 6.5 cents fully franked and Thorn Group Limited
(ASX:TGA) will pay 5 cents, also fully franked.
Commodities
Gold is up $19.90 to $US1,206 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.43 to $16.20 for March. Copper is down $0.05 at $2.76 a pound. Oil is down $2.83 at US$49.86 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
