The local sharemarket looks set to open higher today, bouncing off of yesterday’s 2 ½ year low. Shares on Wall Street eased in late-afternoon trading as US Fed chair Janet Yellen acknowledged global risks have intensified and could slow the US economy, but noted that this was unlikely to necessitate a rate cut.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6 per cent to close at 15,915, the S&P 500 closed flat at 1,852 and the NASDAQ gained 0.4 per cent to close at 4,284.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 0.7 per cent, Paris gained 1.6 per cent and Frankfurt gained 1.6 per cent.
In Asian market performance, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 2.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were closed.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 56 points down to finish at 4,776. On the futures market the SPI is 20 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US0.7111 cents, 48.96 Pence Sterling, 80.60 Yen and 62.97 Euro cents.
Company news
SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited
(ASX:SKC) posted a 30 percent gain in net profit to $71 million in the six months ended 31 December 2015. The company announced record revenue with normalized revenue up 10.2 percent to $562 million. SkyCity said the strong group result was underpinned by improved performance across all properties. Shares in SkyCity Entertainment Group closed 0.24 per cent up yesterday at $4.15.
Newcrest Mining Limited
(ASX:NCM) confirmed late on Wednesday that it had made verbal contact with a miner trapped underground at the Kencana Underground Mine. Newcrest said the miner confirmed he has supplies of food and water and is in good health. All mining and processing operations remain suspended while efforts are made to safely extract the employee. Shares in Newcrest Mining closed 3.27 per cent lower yesterday at $16.25.
Ex-dividends | Name | Code | Date | Amount(cents) | Franking |
| Ansell Limited | ANN | 11/02/16 | 27.8 | 0 |
| Argo Investments | ARG | 11/02/16 | 15.0 | 100 |
| Managed Accounts | MGP | 11/02/16 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Milton Corporation | MLT | 11/02/16 | 8.7 | 100 |
| Scentre Grp | SCG | 11/02/16 | 10.5 | 0 |
| Westfield Corp | WFD | 11/02/16 | 17.5 | 0 |
Commodities
Gold has lost $1.30 to $US1,197 an ounce for the April contract on Comex.
Silver has lost $0.15 to $15.30 for March.
Copper has lost $0.02 to $2.02 a pound.
Oil has lost $0.61 to $US27.33 a barrel for March light crude in New York.
