European markets gave the US a solid lead after stocks there rose when European Central Bank President Mario Draghi left the door open to more stimulus on the back of lower economic growth and inflation forecasts.
In the US, the Dow Jones showed some solid gains in early trade on Thursday but pulled back in the later afternoon as oil prices dropped and investors looked ahead to upcoming US employment data.
US economic news
All eyes are on Friday’s employment report ahead of the September meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Analysts are tipping the addition of 220,000 jobs in August bringing the unemployment rate down to 5.2% from 5.3 per cent.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to close at 16,375, the S&P 500 advanced 0.1 per cent to close at 1,951 and the NASDAQ lost 0.4 per cent to close at 4,734.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE jumped 1.8 per cent, Paris added 2.2 per cent and Frankfurt climbed 2.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added nearly half a per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed yesterday for China’s WWII victory day parade.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index shed 74 points to finish at 5,028. On the futures market the SPI is 20 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 70.18 US cents, 46.01 Pence Sterling, 84.28 Yen and 63.08 Euro cents.
Company news
Aurizon Holdings Limited
(ASX:AZJ) has welcomed a decision by the Federal Court to dismiss a rail union appeal against terminating expired enterprise agreements in Queensland. The Fair Work Commission also approved new enterprise agreements covering 1,700 rail and transport crew. Shares in Aurizon last traded 0.4 per cent lower at $4.95.
And Blackmores Limited
(ASX:BKL) will join the S&P/ASX200 index after the close of trade on September 10. Blackmores will be replacing Sirius Resources which will leave the index after its acquisition by Independence Group. Shares in Blackmores last traded 3.85 per cent down at $111.90.
Commodities Gold has slipped $9.10 to US$1125 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver has added 3 cents to $14.70 for December. Copper is up by 5 cents to $2.38 a pound. Oil has advanced 44 cents to US$46.69 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
| Name | Code | Date | Amount(cents) | Franking |
| Adacel Technologies | ADA | 4/09/15 | 1.25 | 0 |
| Apn Outdoor Grp | APO | 4/09/15 | 4.50 | 100 |
| Blackmores Limited | BKL | 4/09/15 | 135.00 | 100 |
| Cardno Limited | CDD | 4/09/15 | 7.00 | 100 |
| Caltex Australia | CTX | 4/09/15 | 47.00 | 100 |
| MMAOffShor | MRM | 4/09/15 | 1.50 | 100 |
| Oil Search Ltd | OSH | 4/09/15 | 8.29 | 0 |
| Pulse Health Limited | PHG | 4/09/15 | 0.30 | 100 |
| Phileo Australia | PHI | 4/09/15 | 2.00 | 100 |
| Refresh Group | RGP | 4/09/15 | 0.10 | 100 |
| Ramsay Health Care | RHC | 4/09/15 | 60.50 | 100 |
| Speedcast Int Ltd | SDA | 4/09/15 | 3.00 | 100 |
| Saunders Intl Ltd | SND | 4/09/15 | 4.00 | 100 |
| Service Stream | SSM | 4/09/15 | 1.00 | 100 |
| Aust Careers Network | ACO | 7/09/15 | 13.00 | 100 |
| Amcor Limited | AMC | 7/09/15 | 28.56 | 0 |
| Cellnet Group | CLT | 7/09/15 | 1.00 | 100 |
| CSL Limited | CSL | 7/09/15 | 89.99 | 0 |
| Contango Microcap | CTN | 7/09/15 | 3.70 | 50 |
| Hansen Technologies | HSN | 7/09/15 | 3.00 | 83.33 |
