Australian shares are expected to open higher however a late pull back on Wall Street, due to the Federal Reserve leaving interest rates on hold, is likely to limit gains.
The local share market closed slightly higher yesterday with the S&P/ASX 200 Index added 9 points at 4,540. Looking at the futures market the SPI200’s up 23 points.
Checking currencies at 8:45 AM the Aussie Dollar is buying 91.01 US cents, 82.58 Yen, 61.2 Euro cents and 54.95 Pence Sterling. In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics issues international trade data for September.
In company news, News Corp releases first quarter results and David Jones releases first quarter sales figures. To what’s making company news this morning: BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) shares closed stronger yesterday, up 2.06% to $2.97. Australia's biggest steel maker, BlueScope Steel, is being sued by one of its largest suppliers, Xstrata Coal, for $120 million. Xstrata has filed a claim in the New South Wales Supreme Court, accusing BlueScope of refusing to take delivery of coal shipments at the height of the financial crisis last year. As a result - Xstrata says it was forced to sell the coal to other buyers at substantial discounts. BlueScope has rejected the accusations. BlueScope Steel posted a $66 million loss in 2009 after four years of profits.
West Australian Newspapers (ASX:WAN) shares closed higher yesterday, adding 6.52% to $8. The publisher of Perth’s only daily newspaper says there have been signs that drop in advertising demand may have reached its “low point.” Speaking at the company’s AGM yesterday, Chairman Kerry Stokes said the group feels positive about the coming 12 months, given the flow-on effects of a rebounding economy in WA. Since Stokes took control last year, West Australian News has cut staff to counter a fall in advertising sales at its West Australian flagship. The company has also reported a 23% fall in first quarter profit, adding that sales in 2009 is likely to stay below 2008 levels. Looking at the past five years of results West Australian Newspaper’s best profit was in 2008 with $109 million.
Checking ex-dividends and there are two companies going today, which are ANZ with a 56 cent fully franked dividend and Nam-oi Cotton with a 2.5 cent unfranked dividend.
Over to international markets: Wall Street was mixed - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30 points. The S&P500 Index added 1 point and the NASDAQ dipped 2 points.
European markets were stronger. London’s FTSE rose 71 points, Paris added 86 points and Frankfurt is up 91.
Asian markets finished higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 375. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 41 and Shanghai Composite rose 14.
Looking at metals: Gold is $2.10 higher to US$1087 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver added 22 cents to US$17.40 and copper rose 4 cents to US$2.99.
And the price of oil is 80 cents higher to US$80.40 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
