The Australian share market looks set for a brighter start this morning after Wall St managed to bounce back from earlier losses to close flat overnight.
US stocks staged a late rally to close flat on Tuesday as concerns for the global economy eased and investors snapped up bargains.
In economic news out of the US, The Case-Shiller 20 city home price index fell 3.2% in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year. However the index was up 2% on the same time last year.
And the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to a read of 63.3 in May from 57.7 in April. Economists though it would rise to 58.3.
To the figures, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 23 points lower at 10,044. The S&P500 Index closed flat at 1,074 and the NASDAQ lost 3 points at 2,211.
European stocks closed lower on increasing concern for the impact of Europe’s debt crisis on the global economy. London’s FTSE fell 129 points, Paris dropped 100 and Frankfurt declined 136 points.
Asian markets also finished weaker on Tuesday as increased tensions between North and South Korea weighed on markets. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 682 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 299 and China’s Shanghai Composite is 51 points lower.
The Australian share market closed weaker on Tuesday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 130 points to 4,265 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 65 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:40AM was buying 82.77 US cents, 57.44 Pence Sterling, 74.74 Yen and 67.04 Euro cents.
In local economic news: ABS is to release data on construction work done for the March quarter, and the Westpac/Melbourne Institute indices of economic activity are also out today.
To company news around this morning: Shares in property company Lend Lease Group (ASX:LLC) declined 1.62% to $7.30 yesterday. The company is to develop the second stage of the Stratford City project in east London. According to a report in The Australian, Lend Lease will partner with the landowner London & Continental Railways to develop a big commercial area within the Stratford City regeneration project. The paper says Lend Lease will pour some of its own funds into the development and act as the development manager. Work is to commence in 2013 after the 2012 London Olympics, with the entire $7 billion Stratford City development expected to be finished by 2025. In fiscal 09 Lend Lease posted a $653.6 million loss.
Shares in rural products and services company Ruralco Holdings Ltd (ASX:RHL) closed steady at $2.50 on Tuesday. The company has reported a 23% jump in half year profit to $7.8 million. Sales rose 4% to $429.9 million, the company declaring an interim dividend of 8 cents a share. Chairman Richard England says strong revenue growth, despite falling input prices, combined with continued implementation of initiatives to improve Ruralco’s margins, costs and capital have produced a pleasing result. Looking to the next six months, the company expects a relatively strong second half of the financial year with the majority of activities gaining momentum going into the key autumn period and seasonal conditions, particularly in eastern and southern Australia, remaining positive. Ruralco reported a profit for the year to September 30, 2009, although lower than the year before.
Taking a quick look at ex-dividends, and going to day we have Orica with 41 cent 39% franked dividend and SP AusNet with a 4 cent 40% franked dividend. Coming up tomorrow we have Over Fifty Group.
To commodities, and the price of gold added $4 to US$1,197.80 an ounce for the May contract on Comex. Silver is down 22 cents at US$17.76 and copper lost 10 cents to US$3.03.
And the price of oil fell $1.46 to US$68.75 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
