The Australian share market is poised for a weak start to the session following soft global leads. Wall Street continued its descent and closed lower for the fourth straight day despite a late recovery. On the economic front the Labor Department showed Americans seeking first-time unemployment benefits dropped by 9,000 to 282,000 last week. Across commodity markets prices for precious metals and oil are stronger amid violent developments in Yemen.
Global markets
Wall Street ended lower on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 per cent to close at 17,678, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent to close at 2,056 and the Nasdaq eased 0.3 per cent to close at 4,863.
European markets fell on Thursday: London's FTSE 100 fell 1.4 per cent, France's CAC 40 was 0.3 per cent weaker and Germany's DAX lost 0.2 per cent.
Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday: Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.6 per cent.
The Australian share market sank 1.6 per cent yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 index sank 94 points to close at 5,879 on Thursday. On the futures market the SPI is flat.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.7826, 52.72 Pence Sterling, 93.3 Yen and 71.94 Euro cents.
Company news
Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) has dominated Corporate & Business Banking Awards held by Australian Banking & Finance Magazine (AB+F). The bank took home five awards from twelve award categories, including Best overall Business Bank. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) was awarded Most Innovative Business Banking Product or Service, ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ) was named Best Trade Finance and FX Business Bank and National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) won the Best Payment Services Bank award. Shares in Westpac Banking Corporation dropped 2.36 per cent to close at $38.95.
Shares in Covata Limited
(ASX:CVT) soared yesterday despite the benchmark’s steep falls after inking a ten-year global licence deal with networking giant Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO). Founder and CEO Trent Telford has described the agreement as a monumental step in terms of both validation of Covata’s technology and its capacity to deliver world-class deals. Shares in Covata soared 18.6 per cent to close at $0.51.
Commodities
Gold has gained $7.80 to $US1,205 an ounce for the April contract on Comex.
Silver has risen $0.14 to $17.14 for May.
Copper has lifted $0.02 to $2.81 a pound.
The price of oil has increased $2.22 to $US51.43 a barrel for April light crude in New York.
Ex-dividends
Aurora Sandringham Dividend Income Trust
(ASX:AOD) Aurora Property Buy-Write Income Trust
(ASX:AUP) Wilson HTM Investment Group Limited
(ASX:WIG)
Thank you for watching the Australian Share Market Outlook on Friday 27 March. I’m Lelde Smits for the Finance News Network. We’ll leave you now with a look at the companies trading ex-dividend today. Have a lovely day.
