The Australian share market looks set to follow positive leads, and open higher today.
Wall Street finished higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones experiencing its ninth straight day of gains. It seems there is now more optimism about quarterly earnings results. The US market was boosted, in particular, by Microsoft’s strong quarterly earnings, and the software giant’s share price rose by 5.3%. It was no surprise that the Technology sector was the star performer, and 7 out of 10 sectors finished in the black.
US economic newsOil prices increased on Wednesday due to US crude rebounding from two-month lows.
Crude oil inventories fell by 2.3 million barrels in the week ending 15 July, which is good news considering recent concerns about a global oversupply of oil.
MarketsWall Street closed higher on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent to close at 18,595, the S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to close at 2,173 and the NASDAQ is up 1.1 per cent to close at 5,090.
European markets finished higher as well: London’s FTSE was up 0.5 percent, Paris was up 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt was up 1.6 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Nikkei was down 0.3 per cent, the Hang Seng gained almost 1 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The ASX 200 closed 37 points higher to finish at 5,489. On the futures market the SPI is up 20 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US74.78 cents, 56.54 Pence, 80.19 Yen and 67.92 Euro cents.
Australian economic newsNAB will release its second-quarter business confidence report later today.
Company newsCIMIC Group Limited’s
(ASX:CIM) mining services provider, Theiss (as part of a JV) has secured an underground decline project -- in particular, the Rio Tinto operated Oyu Tologoi copper and gold project in Mongolia. CIMIC says the Theiss-led contract will generate revenue of around $130 million, and that Theiss’ share will be 80%.
Shares in CIMIC closed 19% lower at $26.96.
The NSW Supreme Court has ordered that a meeting of Ausenco Ltd
(ASX:AAX) shareholders be convened. The purpose of this meeting is to consider, and potentially agree to, the scheme of arrangement under which Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. will acquire control of Ausenco at 40 cents per share. The EGM and Scheme Meeting will be held on 25 August at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Shares in Ausenco closed 2.7% higher at 38 cents.
CommoditiesGold has lost $16.50 to $US1,316 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has lost $0.54 to $19.47 for September.
Copper is down 1 cent at $2.24 cents a pound for September.
Oil is up $0.21 to $45.66 USD per barrel for August light crude in New York.
