The Australian share market looks set to open slightly higher despite mixed leads from US markets overnight.
On Wall Street, 7 out of 10 industry sectors finished in the black, with Apple having the largest positive impact – rallying 6.5 percent since it reported earnings which were better than expected.
On the other hand, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola were the companies which experienced the biggest losses, after announcing lower than expected earnings.
US economic newsThe US Federal Reserve has decided to keep interest rates steady, taking into account the labour market has "strengthened" and that "near-term risks” to its economic outlook have “diminished". Analysts say this leaves open the possibility of an interest rate hike next month when the Fed meets again.
Crude oil inventories went up by 1.7 million barrels last week. The total inventory count is now over 521 million barrels. This has comes as a surprise to analysts since they were expecting the barrel-count to go down by 2.3 million. This has added to fears about an oil glut and caused oil prices to fall overnight.
MarketsWall Street closed mixed overnight: The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its third straight day of losses, and is down 0.01 per cent to close at 18,472. The S&P 500 was down 0.12 per cent to close at 2,167 and the NASDAQ is up 0.6 per cent to close at 5,140.
European markets finished higher: London’s FTSE was up 0.4 percent, Paris was up 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt was up 0.7 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: the Nikkei was up 1.7 percent, the Hang Seng gained 0.4 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite was down 1.9 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The ASX 200 closed 2 points higher to finish at 5,540. On the futures market the SPI is up 11 points.
CurrenciesThe Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US74.94 cents, 56.71 Pence, 78.96 Yen and 67.76 Euro cents.
Australian economic newsLater today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release Import Price Index data for the June quarter.
Company newsCenturia Capital Ltd
(ASX:CNI) says that the sale of its two properties at Macquarie Park, NSW, have settled. Centuria sold the properties for $101 million, and previously bought them for $24 million in the year 2000.
Shares in Centuria closed flat at $1.05.
Automotive Holdings Goup
(ASX:AHG) has completed its acquisition of the City Mazda dealership in South Melbourne. AHG says this brings its portfolio up to 188 franchises at 108 dealerships across Australia and New Zealand.
Shares in AHG closed 2.56% lower at $4.19.
Ex-dividendsThe Aurora Dividend Income Trust will pay a dividend of 0.36 cents, unfranked.
CommoditiesGold has gained $19.40 to $US1,348 an ounce for the August contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.74 to $20.42 for September.
Copper is down 3 cents at $2.19 cents a pound for September.
Oil is down $1.01 cents to $41.91 USD per barrel for September light crude in New York.
