The Australian share market is likely to open relatively steady as Wall Street edged higher overnight and crude oil prices rose, but hesitancy over the outlook for metals demand could keep heavyweight miners subdued.
The local share market weaker yesterday with the S&P/ASX 200 Index down 4 points to 4,451 and on the futures market the SPI200’s up 4 points.
Checking currencies at 8:35AM the Aussie Dollar is higher and is buying 83.93 US cents, 78.47 Yen, 58.48 Euro cents and 51.56 Pence Stirling.
There are a number of companies reporting annual results today, including Harvey Norman, Goodman Group, Babcock & Brown Power and Sonic Healthcare. Caltex Australia and Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund are also expected to deliver first-half results today.
In company about this morning: Consolidated Media (ASX:CMJ) shares closed lower yesterday down 2.13% to $3.21. Analysts are tipping Rupert Murdoch's News Corp could become a key player in the battle for control of ConsMedia's pay TV investments as News Corp moves to protect its interests in Foxtel and Fox Sports. After Consolidated Media announced it would launch a share buyback plan that could lift James Packer's stake in the company above 45 per cent, Goldman Sachs JBWere analysts believe that combined with the growing interest by Kerry Stoke’s Seven Network in ConsMedia will almost certainly force Mr Murdoch into the ring. Looking at the past five years, ConsMedia’s 2008 net profit was the best result.
Aquilia Resources (ASX:AQA) shares are in a trading halt and last traded at $6.55. The Australian Financial Review reports that China’s largest steelmaker Baosteel is expected to make its first equity investment in an Australian company through a $300 million stake in Aquilia Resources. Based on Aquila’s market capitalization of $1.6 billion, an investment of $300 million should give Baosteel nearly 15-16% of the miner’s expanded capital. 2008 was the best year for Aquilia Resources’ net profits after what had been a much poorer performance in the four years before.
Checking ex-dividends, and there are a number going today including cochlear with a 95 cent fully franked dividend. Suncorp-Metway with a 20 cent fully franked dividend and WorleyParsons with a 55 cent fully franked dividend.
To the international scoreboard: Wall Street finished higher overnight. The Dow Jones industrial average extended its rally for the eight week in a row to finish up 37 points. The S&P500 Index rose 3 points and the NASDAQ added 3 points.
European markets were weaker: London’s FTSE fell 21 points, Paris lost 20 points and Frankfurt dropped 52 points.
Asian markets were lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 214 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 166 points and China’s SSE Composite lost 21 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold increased $1.50 to US$947.30 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is down 4 cents to US$14.25 and copper lost 1 cent to US$2.87.
And finally, oil is up $1.06 cents to US$72.49 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
