Following mostly positive leads from Wall Street overnight, the Australian share market looks set to open slightly higher this morning.
US stocks posted modest gains on Tuesday, investors cautious as Wall Street marked the anniversary of the share market’s 12-year low set amid the financial crisis on March 9 last year.
Gains in industrial and telecom stocks were offset by falling commodity prices which pressured resource stocks.
And with little in the way of economic reports in the US to help drive shares higher, investors appear to be taking a breather.
To the figures now and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 12 points to 10,564. The S&P500 Index closed up 2 points at 1,140 and the NASDAQ added 8 points to 2,341.
European stocks closed mixed yesterday. London’s FTSE lost 4 points, Paris gained 6 and Frankfurt is 10 points higher.
Asian stocks also closed mixed with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 11 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei losing 18 and China’s Shanghai Composite adding 16 points.
The local share market closed higher yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 12 points to 4,820 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 9 points. On to currencies: the Aussie Dollar at 8:50AM was buying 91.42 US cents, 60.97 Pence Sterling, 82.26 Yen and 67.22 Euro cents.
In economic news: The Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer sentiment for February is being released today, along with the Australian Bureau of Statistics housing finance data for January and the Commonwealth Bank’s inaugural quarterly economic vitality report.
To company news around this morning: Shares in Metcash Ltd (ASX:MTS) closed lower yesterday, losing 1.45% to $4.08. Hardware retailer Mitre 10 is in last-minute talks with shareholders to garner support for the grocery wholesaler’s bid to acquire a 50.1% stake in the chain. Mitre 10 Chairman Lance Collins has told members that Metcash’s $55 million cash offer is vital if the retailer is to survive increased competition from Wesfarmers’ Bunnings and new arrivals Woolworths and US partner Lowe’s. Shareholders in Mitre 10 are due to meet in Melbourne on Friday to vote on the proposed acquisition. Approval is needed from 75% of shareholders for the deal to go ahead. In the 12 months to April 30, 2009, Metcash posted a profit of $202.5 million.
Shares in Conquest Mining Ltd (ASX:CQT) closed stronger yesterday, adding 3.57% to $0.29. The junior explorer has appointed former Sino Gold Mining CEO Jake Klein as its executive chairman elect.Former Sino Gold Chairman Jim Askew and current Lynas Corp Executive Chairman Nick Curtis will also join the board as non-executive directors. Conquest Managing Director John Terpu and two of the board’s current directors have agreed to step down. The appointments are subject to shareholder approval and a number of other board changes are being considered. Conquest Mining reported a loss of $1.15 million for the 12 months to June 30, 2009.
There are a number of companies going ex-dividend today. Among them we have Austereo with a 4 cent fully franked dividend and FlexiGroup with a 3 cent fully franked dividend. Among those going tomorrow are Auckland Airport and Dominion Mining.
To commodities: Gold is down $2.20 to US$1,121.80 an ounce for the April contract on Comex. For the May contract Silver is up 6 cents to US$17.33 and copper is steady at US$3.41.
And finally the price of oil lost $0.50 to US$81.37 a barrel for April light crude in New York.
