Following a negative lead from Wall St overnight the local share market looks like it may open in the red this morning. A fall in oil and copper prices is also likely to weigh on the market.
On Tuesday the local market closed higher. The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 28 points to 4,332 and on the futures market the SPI200’s down 35 points.
Checking currencies at 8:35AM the Aussie Dollar is buying 82.96 US cents, 79.67 Yen, 58.63 Euro cents and 50.34 British Pence.
In economic news out today: ABS labour price index data for the June quarter is to be released, as well as the Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer sentiment for August.
In company earnings results due out today: The Commonwealth Bank, Stockland Group, Aevum, BHP Billiton and Computershare release their annual results.
In company news: Shares in National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) added 2.2 per cent to $26.02 yesterday. The bank says it has made a provision of NZ$661 million to cover the cost of it losing a tax case in New Zealand. The move comes after an appeal was launched yesterday against a ruling by New Zealand’s High Court judgement on a structured finance tax case involving NAB’s subsidiary Bank of New Zealand. According to The Sydney Morning Herald the New Zealand High Court ordered Bank of New Zealand to pay NZ$645 million in taxes and interest on a number of finance transactions with offshore financial institutions at unusually low interest rates during the period between 1998 and 2005. Bank of New Zealand believes the transactions were made under tax rules at the time and says the High Court’s decision is not the right outcome. NAB’s profits in the last three years remained relatively unchanged.
Shares in Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd (ASX:HTA) are steady at $0.12. The telco has reported a first half net profit of $552 million as a result of its recent merger with Vodafone Australia and disposal of its 3 business. The company says it sold its 3 business for $587.3 million in early June after the company agreed to merge with Vodafone Australia to create Vodafone Hutchison Australia Ltd, a 50/50 joint venture. Excluding the sale of its 3 business, Hutchison recorded a net loss for the six months to June 30 of $35.3 million, compared to a net loss of $85.4 million the year before. Hutchison Telecommunications has posted net losses in the last five years.
Checking ex-dividends and going today we have Alesco Corporation with a 7 cent fully franked dividend, and Van Eyk Three Pillars with a 2.5 cent fully franked dividend.
To the international scoreboard: US markets lower - The Dow Jones industrial average down 97 points. The S&P500 Index fell 13 and the NASDAQ dropped 23 points.
European markets were also weaker: London’s FTSE down 51 points, Paris lost 48 points and Frankfurt fell 132 points.
Asian markets were higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 145 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei added 61 points and China’s SSE Composite gained 15 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold rose $0.70 to US$947.60 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. For the September contract Silver is down 1 cent to US$14.35 and copper slipped 3 cents to US$2.74.
And finally, the price of oil fell $1.15 to US$69.45 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
