The local share market is likely to follow Wall St’s positive lead and open higher this morning. U.S. stocks rallied overnight in response to some positive economic news that spurred hope that the economy is well and truly on its way to recovery. A rise in commodities and oil may give resource stocks and energy companies a boost today.
The local market finished higher on Wednesday with S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 110 points higher to 4,650 and on the futures market the SPI200’s up 53 points.
Checking currencies at 8:40am better than expected economic data out of the U.S. boosted hopes for a global economic recovery and helped to lift the Aussie Dollar which is currently buying 87.26 US cents, 79.3 Yen, 59.32 Euro cents and 52.94 Pence Stirling.
In economic news: The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Westpac survey of industrial trends is due out today. The RBA releases its monthly bulletin for September, ABS international merchandise imports for August are to be released and the Melbourne Institute household saving and investment report for the September quarter is due out today.
In company news about this morning: Shares in budget airline Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:VBA) rose 5.48 per cent to $0.38 yesterday. Virgin Blue is reportedly in talks with Boeing to acquire up to $4 billion of new planes to replace its existing 737 domestic fleet. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, CEO Brett Godfrey says the last 12 months the most challenging, unexpected and taxing with the impact of the global financial crisis, high oil prices and the outbreak of swine flu. The paper reports Mr Godfrey saying Virgin is in discussion with Boeing to purchase up to 50 aircraft to replace its existing 737 fleet from 2011. Virgin Blue expects to break even this financial year. Virgin Blue posted a $160 million loss in 2009.
Shares in manufacturer of building and construction materials Boral Ltd (ASX:BLD) gained 2.39 per cent to $6 yesterday. The company has announced the appointment of Mark Selway as CEO effective from January 1 2010. Current CEO Rod Pearse announced earlier this year that he will be retiring at the end of December 2009 after 10 years as the head of Boral. His replacement Mr Selway, has been CEO of the listed Scottish headquartered Weir Group Plc, an engineering business, since 2001. Boral’s 2009 net profit was $142 million.
Checking ex-dividends, going today we have ASG Group with a 4.5 cent fully franked dividend, Challenger Financial Services Group with a 7.5 cent unfranked dividend, Corporate Express Australia with a 10 cent fully franked dividend, McMillan Shakespeare with a 10.5 cent fully franked dividend, and Sedgman with a 3 cent fully franked dividend. To the international scoreboard: Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108 points. The S&P500 Index gained 16 points and the NASDAQ added 31 points.
European markets were also stronger: London’s FTSE rose 82 points, Paris rose 62 points and Frankfurt added 71 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 537 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei advanced 53 points and China’s SSE Composite dropped 34 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold rallied $13.90 to US$1020.20 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver increased 43 cents to US$17.43 and copper added 9 cents to US$2.94.
And finally, oil jumped $1.58 to US$72.51 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
