The Australian share market has received a positive lead from Wall Street as US stocks recovered some of this week’s lost ground ahead of the nation’s official jobs report due on Friday. Overnight, American jobless claims were shown to have edged higher over the last week and consumers increased borrowing in March. On the local front Macquarie Group Limited
(ASX:MQG) will deliver full year results today and Annual General Meetings (AGM) will be held by oOh!media Limited
(ASX:OML) and Alumina Limited
(ASX:AWC).
Global markets
Wall Street rebounded on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 per cent to close at 17,924, the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to close at 2,088 and the Nasdaq rose 0.5 per cent to close at 4,946.
European markets ended mixed on Thursday: London's FTSE 100 dipped 0.7 per cent, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3 per cent and Germany's DAX gained 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets moved lower on Thursday: Japan’s Nikkei retreated 1.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 1.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite retreated 2.8 per cent.
The Australian share market fell 0.8 per cent yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 47 points to close at 5,646. On the futures market the SPI is 8 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.7911, 51.23 Pence Sterling, 94.7 Yen and 70.3 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Australian Bureau of Statistics: Overseas arrivals and departure data for March
Reserve Bank of Australia: Statement on Monetary Policy
Company news
Wesfarmers Limited’s
(ASX:WES) uniform supplier WorkWear Group has responded to speculation about its West Footscray manufacturing site in Melbourne. The conglomerate is understood to be reviewing the future of its facility amid challenging conditions in the defence uniform market and expects to provide an update within the week. Shares in Wesfarmers declined 1.24 per cent to close at $43.80 following the announcement on Thursday.
Growthpoint Properties Australia Limited
(ASX:GOZ) has inked a deal to buy three industrial properties in Victoria for almost $57 million. The real estate investment trust says the modern warehouse property assets are leased to quality tenants and well located in the tightly held suburb of Knoxfield. Shares in Growthpoint Properties Australia declined 2.85 per cent to close at $3.06 ahead of the announcement on Thursday.
Ex-dividends
ANZ Banking Group Limited
(ASX:ANZ) paying an 86 cent fully franked dividend
Commodities
Gold has dropped $8.10 to $US1,182 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has fallen $0.21 to $16.30 for July.
Copper has eased $0.01 to $2.92 a pound.
Oil has pulled back $1.99 to $US58.94 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
