We’re looking at a shaky start for the Australian share market this morning following a mixed lead from offshore trading.
US stocks closed mixed on Friday as the market weighed a European decision to help debt-laden Greece and amid news of possible tensions in the Korean peninsula.
Trading tapered off throughout the session following news that a South Korean warship carrying 104 had sunk near the North Korean border on Friday after an unexplained explosion.
In the latest US economic news, gross domestic product growth for the final quarter of last year has been revised to an annual pace of 5.6%, from an earlier estimate of 5.9%.
And the University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment rose to a read of 73.6 in March from 72.5 earlier in the month. It had been predicted to rise to a read of 73.
To the figures now and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9 points to 10,850 on Friday. The S&P500 Index is steady at 1,167 and the NASDAQ is down 2 points at 2,395.
European stock markets closed weaker on Friday, with investors cautious about the implications of a deal to rescue debt-ridden Greece. London’s FTSE lost 25 points, Paris declined 12 points and Frankfurt was down 13 points.
Asian stocks were higher, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is up 275 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 168 points and China’s Shanghai Composite added 41 points.
The Australian share market closed slightly higher on Friday after a late rally in resource and finance stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index was up 12 points at 4,897 and on the futures market the SPI200 is down 2 points. On to currencies: the Aussie Dollar at 8:30AM was buying 90.52 US cents, 60.61 Pence Sterling, 83.67 Yen and 67.11 Euro cents.
To company news around this morning: Seven Network Ltd (ASX:SEV) shares finished 2.49% lower at $7.43 on Friday. Executive Chairman Kerry Stokes is on the hunt for directors to appoint to the board of the new company to be formed as a result of the media group’s proposed merger with WesTrac. The company has appointed headhunters Egon Zehnder International to find two new independent directors for the board to increase the number of directors to five. Mr Stokes and two of Seven’s directors will meet with the Australian Shareholders Association today to address concerns about the $3.4 million deal ahead of a vote by shareholders next month. Seven’s net profit was $12.49 million in the 2009 financial year.
Sigma Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:SIP) shares have been in a trading halt since February 25. They last traded at $0.90. The prescription drugs maker is expected to unveil a loss of up to $280 million when it releases its full-year results this week. At the heart of its problems is over $1 billion in goodwill created by its $2.2 billion merger with generics drug company Arrow Pharmaceuticals five years ago. Sigma is likely to announce that it will write down roughly $320 million in goodwill as a result of the deal. It is also expected to write down its underperforming healthcare brand, Herron, which has encountered a decline in earnings and recently closed its Brisbane plant. For the 12 months to January 30, 2009, Sigma Pharmaceuticals posted a profit of $80.12 million.
There are three companies going ex-dividend today, starting with David Jones with a fully franked 12 cent dividend, Katana Capital with a 1.5 cent fully franked dividend and Koon Holdings with a 1.2 cent unfranked dividend.
To commodities: Gold rose $11.50 to US$1,104.20 an ounce for the May contract on Comex. Silver gained almost 17 cents to US$16.89 and copper rose 2 cents to US$3.39.
And oil slipped $0.53 to US$80 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
