Following soft leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market looks set to open in negative territory this morning. US stocks closed slightly higher on the back on gains in the utilities space, but investors remained anxious about the upcoming release of third-quarter results.
Global markets
To the figures: Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to close at 17,132, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to close at 2,017 and the NASDAQ gained 0.2 per cent to close at 4,839.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE lost 0.7 per cent, Paris retreated 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt gained 0.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed mostly higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei didn’t trade due to a bank holiday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.2 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 3.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 47 points lower to finish at 5,233. On the futures market the SPI is down 13 points.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying 73.63 US cents, 48 Pence Sterling, 88.38 Yen and 64.86 Euro cents.
In economic news: Due out today from National Australia Bank is the September Business Survey.
Company news Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Limited
(ASX:FPH) says it will announce at its investor day in Sydney the introduction of two new products. The first is a mask for the treatment of sleep apnea; the second is a system that delivers Carbon Dioxide during open and laparoscopic surgery. Shares in Fisher and Paykel Healthcare closed 1.25 per cent higher yesterday at $6.47.
Ex-dividends Two companies are going ex-dividend today. Magellan Flagship
(ASX:MFF) will pay a dividend of one cent fully franked and QV Equities Limited
(ASX:QVE) will pay a dividend of 1.5 cents fully franked.
Commodities
Gold has gained $8.60 to $US1,165 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has lost 4 cents to $15.81 for December. Copper has lost a cent to $2.42 a pound.
Oil has lost $2.53 to $47.61 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
