Following negative leads, the Australian share market looks set to open lower this morning. U.S. stocks fell over night, with investors turning to bonds, taking a cautious attitude in the lead up to next week’s US central bank meeting. Oil also dipped overnight, partly due to a stronger US dollar.
US economic news
Initial jobless claims fell for the fourth straight time, dropping to 264,000 for the week ending June 4th, below market expectations of 270,000.
Markets
Wall Street closed lower yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 17,985, the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent to close at 2,115 and the NASDAQ dropped 0.3 per cent to close at 4,959.
European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 1.1 per cent, Paris lost almost 1 per cent and Frankfurt was down 1.3 per cent.
To Asian markets and Tokyo’s Nikkei fell almost 1 per cent yesterday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were both closed
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 8 points down to finish at 5,362. On the futures market the SPI is 27 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US74.29 cents, 51.42 Pence Sterling, 79.53 Yen and 65.67 Euro cents.
Company news
360 Capital Industrial Fund
(ASX:TIX) has announced independent valuations of its entire portfolio have resulted in the fund’s Net Tangible Assets increasing by 7.3 percent per unit.
The company has also announced a number of premises in its portfolio have secured renewed leases with tenants, with the company looking to potentially dispose of other assets to reduce gearing. Shares in 360 Capital Industrial Fund Australia closed 1.47 per cent lower yesterday at $2.69.
Bellamy’s Australia Limited
(ASX:BAL) looks set to benefit from new Chinese regulations introduced on Wednesday which will reduce the number of smaller brands selling products in China. The China Food and Drug Administration will limit local and international factories to producing only three brands and nine products each. Shares in Bellamy’s Australia closed steady yesterday at $10.53.
Commodities
Gold has gained $10.40 to $US1,273 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has added $0.28 to $17.27 for July. Copper has fallen $0.02 to $2.04 a pound for July.
Oil has dropped $0.94 to $US50.56 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
