The Australian share market is expected to open higher this morning following gains on European and Asian markets. European stocks rose on news of a huge takeover bid by Kraft Foods for U.K. rival Cadbury. U.S. markets were closed overnight for the Labor Day public holiday.
The local market finished stronger on Monday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 19 points higher at 4,454 and on the futures market the SPI200’s up 18 points.
Checking currencies at 8:35 AM And according to a report in the Australian the Aussie Dollar surged to its highest level in a year yesterday on fears that the Reserve Bank will become the first central bank in the world to raise interest rates by as early as next month. The Aussie dollar is buying 85.58 US cents, 79.68 Yen, 59.7 Euro cents and 52.39 Pence Stirling.
In economic news: NAB monthly business survey for August is due out today, as well as the Dun & Bradstreet business expectations survey.
In company about this morning: Shares in toll road operator ConnectEast Group (ASX:CEU) fell 1.33 per cent to $0.37 yesterday. ConnectEast is facing legal action after one of the company’s biggest shareholders, Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX:LEI), claimed it mislead the company with inflated traffic forecasts. ConnectEast operates the EastLink toll road in Melbourne, which Leighton subsidiary Thiess John Holland designed and built. According to a Fairfax report, in a claim filed with the Victorian Supreme Court, Thiess John Holland, says the toll road operator mislead the company over traffic numbers which have missed expectations since the road opened in June last year. The paper says the traffic forecasts underpinned Thiess John Holland’s negotiations for a bonus payment for finishing construction of the toll road early. ConnectEast Group has posted losses in the last two years.
Shares in port and rail company Asciano Group (ASX:AIO) rose 0.31 per cent to $1.60 yesterday. The company says it has signed an agreement to sell the Tasmanian rail business of its Pacific National rail business to the state government for $32 million. Subject to approval from State Parliament, the company says from December 1 2009 all rail infrastructure and railway operations in Tasmania will be maintained, managed and owned by a new State-owned rail company. CEO Mark Rowsthorn says the sale is an important element in Asciano’s strategy and would enable it to focus on the core businesses of the group. Asciano Group’s net profit more than halved in 2009 from the year before.
Checking the ex-dividend scoreboard and among those going today we have Broadcast Services Australia with a one cent fully franked dividend, STW Communications Group with a 1.5 cent fully dividend, Sonic Healthcare with a 35 cent 35 per cent franked dividend and Transfield Services with a 7.25 cent fully franked dividend. To the international scoreboard: Wall Street was closed on Monday for the Labor Day public holiday.
European markets were stronger: London’s FTSE rose 81 points, Paris up 54 points and Frankfurt added 79 points.
Asian markets were also higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 311 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 134 points and China’s SSE Composite added 20.
