The Australian Share Market has received mixed leads from offshore trading with Wall Street closing weaker but contract prices for the major commodities ending firmer. US stocks erased early gains to finish lower on reports that China may review its investments in European government bonds, which spurred concern that the credit crisis will get worse.
That managed to overshadow the latest economic news, which was otherwise upbeat.
New home sales jumped 15% in April. Sales rose to 504,000 from 439,000 the previous month.
Another Commerce Department report showed that durable goods orders rose 2.9% in April versus a flat result in March. However, orders that excluded transportation fell 1% after rising 4.8% in the previous month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 10,000 points for the first time in three months, falling 69 points to 9,974. The S&P500 Index is down 6 points to 1,068 and the NASDAQ lost 15 points at 2,196.
European stocks closed higher. London’s FTSE rose 97 points, Paris gained 77 and Frankfurt is up 88 points.
To our region, and Asian markets were stronger. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 211 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 63 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 3.
The Australian share market closed higher on Wednesday after shrugging off worries over Europe's debt crisis. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 42 points to 4,307 and on the futures market the SPI200 is down 6 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:30AM was buying 82.4 US cents, 57.31 Pence Sterling, 74.12 Yen and 67.77 Euro cents.
In local economic news: The ABS private new capital and expected expenditure data for the March quarter is due out.
To company news around this morning: Global miner BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) shares closed higher yesterday up 2.7% to $37.26. BHP Billiton has reportedly notified Japanese steelmakers that it will raise the price for high-quality coal to about $271 per ton for the July-September quarter. The Nikkei business daily reports the more-than 10% sequential hike for the coal, also known as coking coal, is likely to be accepted as steelmakers had given in to miners' demands for an April-June price increase. Iron ore prices are expected to rise 30% to 40% from the April-June quarter, which the newspaper says could mean a higher cost increase for Japanese steelmakers than the estimated $US3.32 billion increase for the current quarter. BHP Billiton’s net profit for the year to June 30 2009 was just over $7.2 billion.
GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) shares fell slightly 0.18% yesterday to close at $5.42. GrainCorp has reported an increase in its half yearly profit of $21 million, and says it expects good soil conditions to boost crop yields in the year ahead. GrainCorp posted a net profit of $53 million, up from the $32 million the previous corresponding period. Total revenue was $922 million, up $858 million in the same period before. The grains handler and marketer says the first-half result included a contribution from the malt businesses of United Malt Holdings Group in Australia, Britain, the US and Canada. GrainCorp posted a $63 million net profit in the year to September 30 2009.
A quick look at ex-dividends, and the Over Fifty Group is going today with a 2.5 cent fully franked dividend.
To commodities, and the price of gold rose $15.50 to US$1,213.30 an ounce for the May contract on Comex. Silver is up 53 cents at US$18.29 and copper added 4 cents to US$3.07.
And Oil prices rebounded sharply after weeks of being knocked down by economic uncertainty. The price of oil gained $2.76 to US$71.51 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
