The Australian sharemarket is poised to open higher on this Wednesday. A bounce in oil prices supported broad gains on Wall Street in late trade, with technology companies among the day’s winners.
An improving labor market has boosted confidence in the US. The Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence rose to 96.5 in December. Meanwhile US home prices rose 5.2 percent in October versus a year earlier.
Markets
Wall Street closed up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1 per cent to close at 17,721, the S&P 500 added 1.1 per cent to close at 2,078 and the NASDAQ gained 1.3 per cent to close at 5,108.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 0.9 per cent, Paris gained 1.8 per cent and Frankfurt gained 1.9 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.4 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.9 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 60 points up to finish at 5,267. On the futures market the SPI is 25 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US0.7296 cents, 49.25 Pence Sterling, 87.88 Yen and 66.76 Euro cents.
Company news
National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) has bought up shares in Veda Group. The lender purchased approximately 9 million shares in the credit reference agency, boosting its voting power to 8.6 percent. Shares in NAB closed 1.77 per cent up yesterday at $29.91.
IPE Limited
(ASX:IPE) has bought back and cancelled 567,232 shares since the announcement of a buy-back on 16 November. The company advised shareholders there are 136 million shares on issue following the cancellation. Shares in IPE closed steady at $0.26.
Commodities
Gold has lost $0.10 to $US1,068 an ounce for the February contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.06 to $13.94 for March.
Copper has gained $0.06 to $2.14 a pound.
Oil has gained $0.69 to $US37.50 a barrel for January light crude in New York.
