With no lead from Wall St overnight the Australian share market looks likely to open flat or slightly higher this morning after European markets gained overnight.
Wall St was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Holiday - on Friday US stocks closed weaker.
Taking a closer at overseas markets now. European markets were higher. London’s FTSE is up 39 points and Paris gained 23, and Frankfurt is up 43 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 194 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 127 points and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 13 points.
Back to the local share market now, and the Australian share market ended higher on Monday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 12 points higher at 4,911 and on the futures market the SPI200’s up 5.
Looking at currencies; the Aussie Dollar at 8:35AM is buying 92.65 US cents, 84.13 Yen, 64.44 Euro cents and 56.75 Pence Sterling.
In economic news: ABS is to release data on international merchandise imports for the month of December today.
In company news about this morning: Shares in mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) fell 0.48% to $43.44 yesterday. The mine is reportedly to inject US$267 million into the development of its coking coal mine and terminal expansion in Queensland. According to a report in The Australian the miner is to use the funds for feasibility studies, procuring long-lead-time items and initial project activities for the Caval Ridge mine and Hay Point Coal Terminal expansion. BHP jointly owns the projects with Japan’s Mitsubishi through their BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance. The paper BHP expects Caval Ridge to produce an estimated 5.5 million tonnes of coking coal a year with the expansion of the Hay Point Coal Terminal expected to increase the annual capacity from 44 million tonnes a year to 55 million tonnes a year. First production from the mine is now being aimed for 2013-14. BHP posted a profit of $7.2 billion for the fiscal 09 year.
Shares in operator of power generation projects Energy Developments Ltd (ASX:ENE) dropped 1.07% to $2.75 yesterday. The company says it has been advised by takeover suitor Greenspark, that Greenspark will no longer participate in discussions regarding its takeover proposal and will now take steps to control the composition of the board. Greenspark has accumulated a 56% shareholding in Energy Developments, and its $2.75 a share offer is scheduled to close this week. Energy Developments says Greenspark has recommended that all dividend payments now cease and says it intends to recommend a prompt review of the company’s capital position. Energy Developments reported a profit for the 12 months to June 30, 2009.
Taking a look at ex-dividends, and while there are no companies going ex-dividend today, Mirrabooka Investments is going on Thursday and Contango Microcap is going on Friday.
