US stocks stabilised on Tuesday following China’s efforts to calm investors with a $28 billion injection of funds into the nation’s financial system. Fear over China is still top of mind however with more volatility expected in the coming weeks.
The Australian share market look set to open mostly flat as investors await more clues of overseas sentiment and calculate the risks on the table.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to close at 17,159, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to close at 2,017 and the NASDAQ lost 0.2 per cent to close at 4,891.
European markets closed higher on Tuesday: London’s FTSE rose 0.7 per cent, Paris added 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt advanced 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.7 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 86 points down to finish at 5,184. On the futures market the SPI is 15 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8.30AM was buying 71.63 US cents, 48.81 Pence Sterling, 85.27 Yen and 66.62 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from AIG is the December Services Index.
Company news
Grange Resources Limited
(ASX:GRR) says it has achieved record pellet production in 2015 after making significant cost reductions throughout the year. However the company says continued weakness in the iron ore price and subdued pellet demand could result in redundancies. Shares in Grange Resources last traded flat at $0.091.
And Lynas Corporation
(ASX:LYC) says it has exceeded production targets for NdPr for the six months to Dec 31. This has triggered a reduction of the interest rate for one of it’s debt facilities from 7 per cent per annum to 6.5 per cent per annum effective Jan 1 2016. Shares in Lynas Corporation last traded down 3.23 per cent at $0.09.
Ex-dividends Two companies are going ex-dividend today: Euroz Limited
(ASX:EZL) will pay 1.75 cents fully franked and Metro Performance Glass Limited
(ASX:MPP) will pay $0.034 with no franking.
Commodities
Gold has added $2.00 to US$1,077 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is up by 12 cents to $13.96 for March. Copper has advanced 2 cents to $2.10 a pound. Oil has shed $0.64 to US$36.12 for February light crude in New York.
