Wall Street shares closed higher yesterday due to a rally in oil prices, resulting in a rise for US energy stocks. Following this positive lead, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning.
Markets
Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to close at 18,096, the S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to close at 2,102 and the NASDAQ was up 0.2 per cent to close at 4,948.
European markets closed higher: London’s FTSE was up 0.1 per cent, Paris was up 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt rose by 0.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei was up by 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.9 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 2.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 27 points up to finish at 5,216. On the futures market, the SPI is up 36 points.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US0.7796 cents, 54.41 Pence Sterling, 85.64 Yen and 69.02 Euro cents.
Australian economic news
NAB will be releasing its first-quarter business confidence report later this morning.
Company news
Yancoal Australia Ltd
(ASX:YAL) has entered into a new financing arrangement to secure up to US $950 million in debt-funding by issuing 9-year secured debt bonds. The company also announced that its coal sales fell by 11% this quarter, compared with the same period last year.
Shares in Yancoal increased by 24.29% yesterday, and are trading at $0.087 per share.
Altona Mining Limited
(ASX:AOH) will form a joint venture with Sichuan Railway Investment Group (SRIG) in relation to the Cloncurry Copper Project in north-west Queensland. SRIG will pay $286 million cash towards the Project.
Shares in Altona rose 2.17% yesterday, and are trading at $0.094 per share.
Ex-dividends 3 companies are going ex-dividend today:
| Name | Code | Date | Amount (cents) |
| Class Limited | CL1 | 21/04/16 | 1 |
| Premier Investments Limited | PMV | 21/04/16 | 23 |
| Ridley Corporation Ltd | RIC | 21/04/16 | 1.5 |
Commodities
Gold has gained $0.10 to $US1,254 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.16 to $17.14 for May.
Copper has gained $0.01 to $2.25 a pound.
Oil has gained $1.71 to $US44.18 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
