Strong global gains at the end of last week look to lift the Australian share market into the new week. The optimism comes amid ongoing Greek debt drama developments and volatility on China’s stock exchange. The Australian dollar has continued to move lower and closer to $US0.74.
Global markets
Wall Street rallied more than 1 per cent on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2 per cent to close at 17,760, the S&P 500 gained 1.2 per cent to close at 2,077 and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 per cent to close at 4,998.
European markets rose at the end of last week: London's FTSE 100 jumped 1.4 per cent, France's CAC 40 soared 3.1 per cent and Germany's DAX climbed 2.9 per cent.
Asian markets ended mixed last week: Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lifted 2.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite spiked 4.5 per cent.
The Australian share market ended a rocky week on a high note: The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 21 points on Friday, trimming the weekly loss of 46 points to close at 5,492. On the futures market the SPI is 35 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.7419, 47.88 Pence Sterling, 90.62 Yen and 66.86 Euro cents.
Company news
Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) has appointed Tom Boyles to the newly created role of Chief Customer Officer. The bank has described Mr Boyles as a global leader in his field who will join Westpac from the Walt Disney Company where he was responsible for Disney’s “customer first” strategy. Westpac’s CEO Brian Hartzer says Mr Boyles’ experience will help improve Westpac’s service and build customer loyalty in both the physical and digital worlds. Shares in Westpac Banking Corporation rose 0.67 per cent to close at $33.10 on Friday.
National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) says SMSF trustees are increasingly confident about retirement. Research by nabtrade and the SMSF Association shows almost 70 per cent of SMSF trustees are confident they will achieve their desired income of $95,500 per annum in retirement. NAB says this is in comparison with non-SMSF trustees with only 35 per cent expressing confidence they will achieve their desired income of $80,000 per annum. Shares in National Australia Bank dipped 0.18 per cent to close at $33.07 on Friday.
Commodities
Gold has dropped $1.30 to $US1,158 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has risen $0.23 to $15.59 for September.
Copper has declined $0.01 to $2.54 a pound.
Oil has lost $0.01 to $US53.22 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
