Aussie shares are likely to open stronger this morning after a positive finish on Wall St overnight following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates near zero and statement that the economy appears to be stabilizing. Resource stocks like top miner BHP could help support the market today on higher metal prices.
On Wednesday the local market closed higher. The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 11 points to 4,343 and on the futures market the SPI200’s up 50 points.
Checking currencies at 8:40AM the Aussie Dollar is buying 83.37 US cents, 80.21 Yen, 58.7 Euro cents and 50.52 British Pence.
In economic news out today: The ABS average weekly earnings data for May is to be released as well as the Housing Industry Association housing affordability report for the June quarter, the Melbourne Institute survey of consumer inflationary expectations for August, and the Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer unemployment expectations for August.
In company earnings results due out today: Coca-Cola Amatil and Macquarie Airports first half results are due out today, along with Foxtel and Telstra’s annual results and Singapore Telecommunications first quarter results.
In company news: Shares in telco Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (ASX:SGT), parent company of Optus, gained 1.12 per cent to $2.70 yesterday. Optus says it boosted its customer base with the addition of 213,000 new mobile and wireless broadband customers in the June quarter reaching the 8 million customer mark. In a pre-results statement Singtel says Optus’ mobile customer base expanded 11 per cent from a year ago with an extra 139,000 post-paid customers joining Optus during the quarter. The company says the growth was underpinned by demand for Apple iPhone 3G, other smart phones, and ‘Timeless’ plans - which offer unlimited standard calls and texts to Australian GSM mobiles for a fee. Singapore Telecommunications is to report its first quarter results today. And taking a look back over the last five years Singapore Telecommunications has posted inconsistent net profits.
Shares in medical diagnostic services company Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX:SHL) rose 0.08 per cent to $12.25 yesterday. Sonic has acquired U.S. Piedmont Medical Laboratory based in Winchester, Virginia and U.S Axiom Laboratories based in Tampa, Florida. The company says the purchase price for both businesses comprises upfront cash payments totalling US$20 million and a performance based earn-out of up to US$2.5 million payable over 2 years. Sonic says Piedmont has experienced steady revenue growth and has current annual revenue of US$11 million. Axiom’s annual revenue is US$5 million. Sonic Healthcare’s net profits have been increasing over the past four years.
Checking ex-dividends and going today we have Argo Investments with a 13 cent fully franked dividend, Finbar International with a 5 cent fully franked dividend and Milton Corporation with a 35 cent fully franked dividend.
To the international scoreboard: US markets closed higher on Wednesday - The Dow Jones industrial average up 120 points. The S&P500 Index gained 11 and the NASDAQ rose 29 points.
European markets were also stronger: London’s FTSE up 45 points, Paris gained 51 points and Frankfurt added 64 points.
Asian markets were lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 639 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 150 points and China’s SSE Composite down 152 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold rose $4.90 to US$952.50 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. For the September contract Silver is up 24 cents to US$14.59 and copper gained 9 cents to US$2.82.
And finally, the price of oil rose $0.71 to US$70.16 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
