Outlook: Aus shares set to open lower

Market Reports


US stocks ended lower on Thursday as oil prices sank again. A short-lived rally following the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates soon ran out of steam leading the way for Aussie stocks to also open lower. 
 
US economic news

The Commerce Department says the US current account deficit rose 11.7 per cent in the third quarter to its highest level since 2008. 

Markets

Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4 per cent to close at 17,496, the S&P 500 slipped 1.5 per cent to close at 2,042 and the NASDAQ shed 1.4 per cent to close at 5,003.
 
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE lifted 0.7per cent, Paris advanced 1.1 per cent and Frankfurt rose 2.6 per cent.
 
Asian markets closed also up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up by 0.8 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted 1.8 per cent.
 
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 74 points up to finish at 5,102. On the futures market the SPI is 42 points down. 
 
Currencies

The Australian Dollar at 8:30AM was buying 71.26 US cents, 47.86 Pence Sterling, 87.42 Yen and 65.88 Euro cents.

Company news
 
Oz Minerals Limited (ASX:OZL) has agreed to earn in to Minotaur’s Eloise project tenements in Cloncurry, Queensland. Oz will pay $1.5 million through 2016 and then a further $3.5 million over the next two years for a 51 per cent interest in access to the Mt Isa Copper belt. Shares in Oz Minerals last traded 6.36 per cent higher to $4.18. 
 
Centuria Capital Limited (ASX:CNI) says its subsidiary Centuria Property Funds Limited has sold 175 Castlereagh St Sydney to Transport NSW for $98 million. The site is earmarked for a metro station as part of the transport upgrades in the Sydney CBD. Shares in Centuria last traded 0.54 per cent lower to $0.925. 
 
Commodities

Gold has slipped $26.40 to US$1,050 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver has shed 56 cents to $13.69 for March. Copper is down 3 cents to $2.04 a pound. Oil has tumbled 70 cents to US$36.05 a barrel for January light crude in New York.

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