Following weak leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning. US Stocks ended more than 1 per cent lower on Wednesday thanks to falling oil prices and a sharp sell-off in energy companies. Apple also weighed heavily on the market, its shares losing 1.9 per cent at the closing bell.
Global markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.5 per cent to close at 16,254, the S&P 500 lost 1.4 per cent to close at 1,942 and the NASDAQ lost 1.2 per cent to close at 4,757.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE gained 1.4 per cent, Paris was up 1.4 per cent also and Frankfurt gained 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei soared yesterday up 7.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 4.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted 2.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 106 points higher to finish at 5,221. On the futures market the SPI is down 82 points.
Currencies
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 69.85 US cents, 45.48 Pence Sterling, 84.17 Yen and 62.35 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the monthly employment figures for August. Economists have tipped the number for jobs to have risen by 10,000 for the month. It’s also expected that the unemployment rate may have eased from 6.3 per cent to 6.1 per cent.
Company news Sirius Resources NL
(ASX:SIR) says the Federal Court of Australia has approved the scheme of arrangement in relation to the proposal by Independence Group to acquire all the shares in Sirius. The court has also given orders approving the demerger of Polar Bear and Scandinavian assets into S2 Resources. Shares in Sirius Resources closed 1.15 per cent lower yesterday at $2.57.
Aquis Entertainment Limited
(ASX:AQS) says conditions at its Canberra casino have improved for the month of August. The casino operator says revenue increased by 5.8 per cent to $1.98 million, from $1.88 million in July. It’s a total 53. 8 per cent increase in August revenue from the same time last year. Shares in Aquis Entertainment last traded at 16 cents.
Commodities
Gold has dropped $15.70 to $US1,105 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has dropped 18 cents to $14.58 for December.
Copper has dropped 1 cent to $2.42 a pound.
Oil has dropped $1.83 to $US44.11 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
