The Australian share market looks like it may be in for a weaker start this morning after stocks on Wall St took a tumble overnight following a surprise drop in consumer confidence which caused concern for the health of an economic recovery.
The Australian share market closed higher on Tuesday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 76 points higher at 4,753 and on the futures market the SPI200’s down 12 points.
Checking currencies at 8:40 AM the Aussie Dollar is buying 87.23 US cents, 78.66 Yen, 59.84 Euro cents and 54.68 Pence Sterling.
In economic news out today: The Productivity Commission hands down a report on executive remuneration, the RBA financial aggregates data for August is due out, as well as the ABS building approvals for August, the State Street September Global investor confidence index, and the launch of the Housing Industry Association’s 100 2008/2009 list of Australia’s largest 100 builders. In company news this morning: Shares in Australian and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) gained 1.64 per cent to $24.73 yesterday. The bank has reportedly reached an agreement with China Development Bank to act as its agency in Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Asia. In a report in The Australian the paper says CEO Mike Smith has signed a memorandum of understanding that will involve the bank bringing deals to China Development Bank for financing. China Development Bank is reportedly looking to boost its presence in the Asia-Pacific region and build a portfolio of Australian assets worth $25 billion by the end of the year. Mr Smith told The Australian that the deal is the first of its kind. ANZ’s profit highlight over the last five years was $4.2 billion in 2007.
Shares in biopharmaceutical company Acrux Ltd (ASX:ACR) rose 0.62 per cent to $1.61 yesterday. The company says it has received positive results from its Phase 3 trial of its testosterone replacement drug, Axiron. The company trialed the drug on 155 men with testosterone deficiency across six countries, finding that after four months of treatment with Axiron 84 per cent of subjects achieved average blood levels of testosterone within the normal range. This was above the 75 per cent requirement agreed to with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this month Axrux announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had agreed that Acrux may proceed to file a new drug application in the U.S. which Acrux is targeting for the end of 2009. Acrux has posted net losses over the last five years.
Checking ex-dividends, and among those companies going ex-dividend today we have Aevum with a 2 cent unfranked dividend, Goodman Fielder with a 6 cent 20 per cent franked dividend and WHK Group with a 1.5 cent fully franked dividend.
To the international scoreboard: U.S. stocks finished lower on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 47 points. The S&P500 Index losing 2 points and the NASDAQ dropping 7 points.
European markets were also weaker: London’s FTSE fell 6 points, Paris dropped 11 points and Frankfurt lost 23 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 425 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 91 and China’s SSE Composite dropped 9 points.
Looking at Metals: Gold gained $0.30 to US$994.40 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver declined 2 cents to US$16.18 and copper is steady at US$2.73.
And the price of oil is 13 cents lower at US$66.71 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
