The Australian share market looks to open lower after Wall Street retreated yesterday. US traders responded to inflation figures rising for the first time since October and growth in new home sales last month. Closer to home the Australian dollar has stayed above $US0.78 and the price of iron ore has recovered back above $US55 per tonne. The economic calendar will be light today and half year results will be due from Nufarm Limited
(ASX:NUF).
Global markets
Wall Street dropped on Tuesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 per cent to close at 18,012, the S&P 500 fell 0.6 per cent to close at 2,092 and the Nasdaq fell 0.3 per cent to close at 4,995.
European markets ended mixed on Tuesday: London's FTSE 100 eased 0.3 per cent, France's CAC 40 firmed 0.7 per cent and Germany's DAX gained 0.9 per cent.
Asian markets also put in a mixed performance yesterday: Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng pulled back 0.4 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite firmed 0.1 per cent.
The Australian share market traded in positive territory and ended 0.2 per cent higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 index added 13 points to close at 5,969. On the futures market the SPI is 10 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.7876, 53.06 Pence Sterling, 94.3 Yen and 72.14 Euro cents.
Company news
Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) and Alcoa will hand back land in Western Australia’s Kimberley which is poised to become part of Australia’s biggest national park. Both companies have agreed to terminate a historic deal for the mining of bauxite and the development of an alumina refinery in the region. The state’s Premier Colin Barnett says the move is the most significant conservation achievement in Western Australian history. Shares in Rio Tinto fell 1.44 per cent to close at $57.37 on Tuesday.
Empired Limited
(ASX:EPD) has won a contract with Toyota Motor Corporation Australia. The IT services provider will work on Toyota’s core customer facing Microsoft platforms from next month. The latest award follows on from a contract win from New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries earlier this month valued at almost $12 million. Shares in Empired rose 4.05 per cent to close at $0.77 on Tuesday.
Commodities
Gold has gained $3.70 to $US1,191 an ounce for the April contract on Comex.
Silver has risen $0.01 to $16.98 for May.
Copper has lifted $0.01 to $2.80 a pound.
The price of oil has put on $0.06 to $US47.51 a barrel for April light crude in New York.
Ex-dividends
