Our local share market is tipped to open lower after falls were seen overnight in most US and European share markets as well as the price of oil.
Yesterday, the local share market closed weaker. The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 16 points lower to 4,677 and on the futures market the SPI200’s down 15 points.
Checking currencies at 8:30 AM the Aussie Dollar is buying 86.32 US cents, 79.44 Yen, 58.81 Euro cents and 53.24 Pence Sterling. In economic news due out today, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics releases its third quarter commodities report.
And Premier Investments releases its full-year company results.
In company about this morning: Cabcharge (ASX:CAB) shares closed stronger yesterday, adding 0.17% to $5.97. Cabcharge has signaled it will be mounting a defence to the ACCC’s June lawsuit, which alleges that the company tried to eliminate competitors and deter potential rivals in the taxi industry between 2002 and 2008. In its formal response filed in the Federal Court – Cabcharge has denied that it misused its power as Australia's largest processor of payments for taxi fares. Cabcharge’s net profits have been increased each year since 2004.
Babcock & Brown Infrastructure (ASX:BBI) shares have been in a trading halt since Friday and last traded at 5 cents. The independent directors of Babcock & Brown Infrastructure will seek more time to explore a recapitalisation proposal led by investment bank RBS but are expected to flag to unit holders that they hold serious reservations about the proposal. The fund has $205 million in unsecured debt which is due next month and the pressure is on its 10 main lenders to agree to a recapitalisation. Babcock & Brown Infrastructure fell into the red in 2008 after posting its best five year result in 2007.
Checking ex-dividends and CPT Global is going today with 3 cent fully franked dividend and the Reject Shop is going with a 23 cent fully franked dividend.
To the international scoreboard:
US markets finished mixed. The Dow Jones industrial fell 41 points. The S&P500 Index lost 4 points but the NASDAQ inched up 5 points.
European markets were lower: London’s FTSE fell 54 points, Paris lost 16 points and Frankfurt dropped 35 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 151 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed and China’s SSE Composite rose 4 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold fell $5.40 to US$1004.90 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver lost 19 cents to US$16.88 and copper rose 2 cents to US$2.81.
And finally, oil fell $2.33 to US$69.71 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
