Following mixed leads, the Australian share market looks set to open with soft gains on this final session of the quarter. Healthcare stocks were on the gains list as a choppy Wall Street staged a partial bounce back from Monday’s sell-off.
US stocks received a small lift from reports consumer confidence was at its highest level since January. The Conference Board’s index consumer confidence increased to 103.0 in September. Consumer outlook has been tipped to ease to 97 from a read of 101.5 the previous month.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to close at 16,049, the S&P 500 added 0.12 per cent to close at 1,884 and the NASDAQ lost 0.59 per cent to close at 4,517.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE lost almost 1 per cent, Paris lost 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt lost 0.4 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost almost 3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 2 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 195 points down to finish at 4,918. On the futures market the SPI is 43 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US0.6985 cents, 46.12 Pence Sterling, 83.65 Yen and 62.11 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is Building Approvals data. The volatile indicator of home building is expected to decrease by 1.8 percent following a 4.2 percent gain the previous month.
Company news
Asciano Limited
(ASX:AIO) has announced a shareholder meeting to consider and vote on the previously announced Scheme of Arrangement under which Nitro Corporation Pty Ltd will acquire 100% of the issued capital of Asciano. The meeting was demanded by the Supreme Court of New South Wales and will be held on 10 November in Melbourne. Shares in Asciano Limited closed 1.79 per cent lower yesterday at $8.25.
LNG Limited
(ASX:LNG) has told shareholders it is well positioned to participate in the North American LNG growth story. The Energy company highlighted its Magnolia LNG and Bear Head LNG projects as key focus areas. LNG also warned investors that fluctuations in demand for LNG are a risk to financial performance. The company reported a net loss after income tax of $86.3 million in FY15. Shares in LNG Limited closed 9.12 per cent lower yesterday at $1.245. [Google]
Ex-dividends
| Auckland Internation | AIA | 30/09/15 | 6.5 | 0 |
| BPS Technology Ltd | BPS | 30/09/15 | 3.3 | 0 |
| Cedar Woods Prop. | CWP | 30/09/15 | 16.0 | 100 |
| Ebos Group Ltd | EBO | 30/09/15 | 20.0 | 0 |
| Genesis Energy Ltd | GNE | 30/09/15 | 7.2 | 0 |
| Virtus Health Ltd | VRT | 30/09/15 | 14.0 | 100 |
Commodities
Gold has lost $4.80 to $US1,127 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver has lost $0.07 to $14.65 for December. Copper is steady at $2.26 a pound. Oil has gained $0.46 to $US44.89 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
