Following a rebound on Wall Street on Friday, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. Ending what was a volatile week for U.S. stocks, investors took heart from a rally in the tech sector as the week closed, with a strong profit forecast from chip maker Applied Materials leading the charge. With jobs growth and home sales stronger than expected in the U.S. the probability of a rate hike in June is starting to firm.
US economic news
April data from the National Association of Realtors released over the weekend showed U.S. home resales exceeded market expectations, rising 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.45 million units. Sales are up 6 percent from a year ago, suggesting a relatively buoyant market. Due out today is Markit Economics U.S. Manufacturing PMI flash data for May.
Markets
Wall Street closed up on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4 per cent to close at 17,501, the S&P 500 added 0.6 per cent to close at 2,052 and the NASDAQ was up 1.2 per cent to close at 4,770.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 1.7 per cent, Paris added 1.7 per cent and Frankfurt advanced 1.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lifted 0.8 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite increased 0.7 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher on Friday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 28 points up to finish at 5,351, up 22 points on the week. On the futures market the SPI is 3 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US72.27 cents, 49.82 Pence Sterling, 79.62 Yen and 64.42 Euro cents.
Company news
Transurban Group
(ASX:TCL) has announced it has raised $460 million via new non-recourse debt facilities, as part of a refinancing deal for the Lane Cove Tunnel.
$260 million of existing debt will be repaid immediately while the additional $200 million will be available to repay debt at the Transurban group level and fund its development pipeline. The new debt facilities have staggered maturities and were provided from a combination of banks and private placement investors. Shares in Transurban Group closed 1.07 per cent lower on Friday at $12.02.
Aventus Capital Limited
(ASX:AVN) has announced it has completed settlement on the acquisition of a portfolio of 5 large format retail centres across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The company has acquired the 5 sites for a total of $219 million. The sites will be integrated into the Aventus Retail Property Fund portfolio, which is currently valued at around $1.2 billion across 20 centres. Shares in Aventus Capital Limited closed steady on Friday at $2.25.
Ex-dividends
3 companies are going ex-dividend today. Oneall International Limited will pay a dividend of 2.5 cents, unfranked. Duluxgroup Limited will pay 11.5 cents fully franked and Incitec Pivot Limited will pay a dividend of 4.1 cents, also fully franked.
Commodities
Gold has lost $1.90 to $US1,253 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.04 to $16.53 for July.
Copper has lost $0.01 to $2.06 a pound for July.
Oil has dropped $0.51 to $US48.41 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
