The Australian share market is tipped to open stronger this morning following modest gains on Wall Street overnight and higher commodity prices.
Yesterday the local share market closed flat as better-than-expected employment figures helped stocks rebound from early losses. The S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 5 points to 3,763 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 13 points.
Checking currencies at 8:40 am the Aussie dollar is marginally stronger and is buying 78.42 US cents. On the cross rates the dollar is trading at 72.99 Yen, 55.93 Euro cents and 48.01 British pence.
In company news, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) shares closed 1.24% lower yesterday at $47.60. The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the government will take a measured approach in dealing with the Chinese spy agency responsible for detaining Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu and three of his senior staff. According to an ABC report the four had been arrested with "sufficient evidence to prove that they had stolen state secrets and that this represented a huge loss to China's economic security. Mr Rudd has urged "sensitivity and good judgment" and has rejected Opposition calls to intervene and by contacting the Chinese President Hu Jintao and demand consular access for Mr Hu. Rio Tinto’s profit highlight was in 2006 with just over US$7.4 billion.
Seven Network Ltd (ASX:SEV) shares finished 2.88% weaker yesterday at $5.05. According to the Australian newspaper, Kerry’s Stokes’ Seven Network has lifted its stake in the James Packer-backed Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd to about 18% after buying shares for a second day. The newspaper is reporting that Seven paid $51 million for at least 2.84 percent of Consolidated Media yesterday through late purchases by broker JPMorgan Chase. Seven's stake is believed to have been about 15 per cent before the start of the day's trade, after picking up more than 70 million shares, on Wednesday. Looking at the past five years of net profits result for the Seven Network, the company’s 2008 result was significantly lower than the year before.
Turning to the ex-dividend scoreboard and going today is IOOF with a 13 cent fully franked dividend.
To international markets:Wall Street closed higher overnight. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 5 points. The S&P500 Index rose 3 points and the NASDAQ added 5 points.
European markets were also stronger: London’s FTSE rose 18 points. Paris added 16 points and Frankfurt rose 57 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 70 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei shed 130 and China’s SSE Composite rose 42 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold is up US$6.90 to US$916.20 an ounce, for the August contract on Comex. For the July contract, Silver is up 8 cents to US$12.94 and copper is also up 8 cents to US$2.24.
And finally oil is up 27 cents to US$60.41 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
