US stocks took a breather from the 2016 sell-off on Friday posting some good gains in the wake of a 12 per cent jump in oil prices.
This is giving local stocks a positive lead however the S&P 500 is still around 9 per cent lower so far this year with no real rally in sight.
Markets
Wall Street closed up on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2 per cent to close at 15,974, the S&P 500 added just under 2 per cent to close at 1,865 and the NASDAQ advanced 1.7 per cent to close at 4,338.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE added 3.1 per cent, Paris and Frankfurt jumped 2.5 per cent.
Asian markets are still closed for the Lunar New Year: Tokyo’s Nikkei last traded at 14,953, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed at 18,320, and China’s Shanghai Composite closed at 2,763.
The Australian share market closed lower ahead of the weekend: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 56 points down to finish at 4,765 to be 211 points down on the week. On the futures market the SPI is pointing 87 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying 71.17 US cents, 49.15 Pence Sterling, 80.77 Yen and 63.35 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is motor vehicle sales for January.
Company news
Rural Funds Group
(ASX:RFF) is part of a consortium that has successfully bid to win a deal to purchase Market City in Perth. The WA government has chosen Perth Markets Limited as a preferred bidder with Rural Funds investing $5.275 million for a 9 per cent stake in the group.
Shares in Rural Funds Group last traded 1.55 per cent lower at $1.27.
Elemental Minerals Limited
(ASX:ELM) says it has received an off-market takeover offer of 30 cents per share from Dingyi Group. The board has rejected the deal in favour of a proposed equity investment from Summit Private Equity that will provide US$50 million in funding for its flagship potash project in the Republic of Congo. Shares in Elemental Minerals last traded 2.7 per cent lower at $0.18.
Ex-Dividends One company is going ex-dividend today: K2 Asset Management Holdings
(ASX:KAM) will pay 1 cent per share fully-franked.
Commodities
Gold has dipped $8.40 to US$1,239 an ounce for the April contract on Comex. Silver is flat at $15.79 for March. Copper has risen 2 cents to $2.03 a pound. Oil has added $1.96 to US$31.91 a barrel for March light crude in New York.
