US markets ended slightly higher ahead of the weekend as oil prices lifted from six and a half year lows giving the local market a mildly positive lead.
The yuan also rose after plunging around 3 per cent during the week as China devalued its currency in a bid to stabilise its economy.
Markets
Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 17,477, the S&P 500 added 0.4 per cent to close at 2,092 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.3 per cent to close at 5,048.
European markets closed down: London’s FTSE dropped 0.3 per cent, Paris lost 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt was down 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower on Friday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 31 points down to finish at 5,357 to be 118 points down on the week. On the futures market the SPI is 9 points up. .
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 73.80 US cents, 47.16 Pence Sterling, 91.74 Yen and 66.43 Euro cents.
Company news
Pulse Health Limited
(ASX:PHG) says in light of the takeover offer for Vision Eye Institute by Jangho Group it will allow its offer to lapse. Jangho Group had offered an all-cash $1.10 per share for Vision, valuing the company at $198 million. Pulse had a scrip based bid of around $158 million. Shares in Pulse last traded 5.66 per cent down at $0.50.
SAI Global Limited
(ASX:SAI) has won a contract to provide national mortgage settlement services for NAB Broker. The deal is expected to be worth around $9 million a year from 2017. Shares in SAI Global closed 1.6 per cent higher at $4.45 on Friday.
Commodities
Gold has slipped $2.90 to US$1,113 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver has slid 19 cents to $15.21 for September. Copper is steady at $2.35 a pound. Oil has advanced 13 cents to US$43.11 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
