The Australian share market is expected open in positive territory after Wall Street wrapped up its best week in four months on Friday. But concerns over the upcoming company earnings reporting season could limit gains. Resources stocks may however get a boost from higher metals and oil prices.
The local share market closed stronger on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 5 points to 4,001 and on the futures market the SPI200’s is up 11 points.
Checking currencies at 8:35 am the Aussie Dollar is relatively steady at 80.36 US cents, 75.76 Yen, 56.89 Euro cents and 49.17 Pence Stirling.
In economic news coming out today: The Australian Bureau of Statistics releases the producer price index data for the June quarter.
In company news: BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) shares closed stronger on Friday, adding 0.83% to $35.20. It’s going to be a big week for the mining giant with interviews expected to be held to find a successor to chairman Don Argus while BHP is also reporting its full year production results on Wednesday. According to media reports Ford Motors Chief Jacques Nasser and CBA chairman John Schubert are tipped to be among the front runners for the top job. Don Argus is expected to announce his resignation in the coming months. Over the past five year, BHP Billiton’s net profits have been getting consistently stronger.
Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:VBA) shares closed steady on Friday at 30 cents. The Australian newspaper is reporting that Virgin Blue is courting a Middle East airline to become a cornerstone investor as it seeks options to strengthen its capital position due to the economic slowdown and increased industry competition. The newspaper reports that Australia’s number two airline may have held talks with Emirates, while it also cited Air New Zealand as a potential partner. Virgin Blue’s 2008 net profit was just under half of its 2007 result.
Turning to the ex-dividend scoreboard and Euroz is going today with a 6.5 cent fully franked dividend.
To international markets: Wall Street finished mostly higher on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 32 points. The S&P500 Index closed steady and the NASDAQ added 2 points.
European markets were also higher: London’s FTSE rose 27 points. Paris added 19 points and Frankfurt is up 21 points.
Asian markets were also stronger: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 444 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei added 51 points and the Shanghai Composite up 6 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold added US$2.10 to US$937.50 an ounce, for the August contract on Comex. For the September contract silver rose 17 cents to US$13.40 and copper gained 3 cents to US$2.42.
And finally the price of oil rose US$1.48 to US$63.50 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
