Following falls on Wall Street the Australian share market is eyeing a soft start to the new week. Greece’s debt concerns have remained in focus ahead of this evening’s EU Summit. Closer to home it is a light week for economic data and the Australian dollar has strengthened.
Global markets
Wall Street moved lower on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6 per cent to close at 18,016, the S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent to close at 2,110 and the Nasdaq dipped 0.3 per cent to close at 5,117.
European markets closed mixed at the end of last week: London's FTSE 100 firmed 0.04 per cent, France's CAC 40 lifted 0.3 per cent and Germany's DAX dropped 0.5 per cent.
Asian markets put in a mixed performance on Friday: Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.9 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite sank 6.4 per cent.
The Australian share market leapt 1.3 per cent on Friday to post a weekly gain of 0.9 per cent. The S&P/ASX 200 index rose 72 points on Friday, extending the weekly gain of 52 points to close at 5,597. On the futures market the SPI is 3 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.7769, 48.96 Pence Sterling, 95.48 Yen and 68.32 Euro cents.
Company news
Global miner BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) says its Svedala mill has safely resumed operation ahead of schedule. The mill is part of BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam surface processing operations in South Australia and suffered an electrical failure in January. As a result BHP has confirmed it expects a reduction in copper production of between 60,000 and 70,000. Shares in BHP Billiton rose 1.57 per cent on Friday to end the week at $28.41.
AGL Energy Limited
(ASX:AGL) has won three awards at this year’s Australasian Reporting Awards. The energy giant was recognised for its sustainability reporting and annual report and has advised it was one of the first ASX-listed companies to produce a Sustainability Report. Shares in AGL Energy rose 0.93 per cent on Friday to end the week at $16.27.
Commodities
Gold has declined $2.10 to $US1,199.80 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has slipped $0.05 to $16.05 for July.
Copper is steady at $2.57 a pound.
Oil has lost $0.24 to $US59.37 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
