The Australian share market has received a mixed lead from Wall Street overnight but is expected to open higher.
US stocks lost steam from their three-day rally, after a big drop in consumer confidence offset better-than-expected profit growth from DuPont, UBS and others.
In economic news: according to the Conference Board, consumer confidence declined in July to 50.4 from an upwardly revised 54.3 in June.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 12 points at 10,538. The S&P 500 Index slipped back 1 point to 1,114 and the NASDAQ is down 8 points at 2,288.
European stocks were higher: London’s FTSE up 15 points, Paris gained 30 points and Frankfurt rose 13.
To Asian markets were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 133 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 7 points and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 13 points.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday with the S&P/ASX 200 Index lifting 11 points to 4,497 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 22 points. The Aussie Dollar at 7:35AM was buying 90.14 US cents, 57.81 Pence Sterling, 79.22 Yen and 69.37 Euro cents.
In local economic news and economists and the Reserve Bank of Australia will no doubt be watching to see the results of the ABS Consumer Price Index for the June quarter which is being released today.
In business news: Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) shares closed slightly higher yesterday, adding 0.93% to $30.36. The Wesfarmers owned supermarket chain Coles is doing all it can to close the gap on its rival Woolworths by attracting more customers. Coles will use the resources of Wesfarmers to offer car insurance to its shoppers, which would allow them to triple their standard 4¢ Coles fuel discount dockets once every month for a year. Coles customers who take out comprehensive car insurance at the supermarket will also have their groceries insured if they are damaged in any car accident. It follows Monday’s release of Coles’ fourth-quarter and full-year sales results that showed continued advances for the supermarket chain. Wesfarmers’ 2009 net profit increased on the two financial years before and was just over $1.5 billion. Shares in Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:VBA) closed steady yesterday at 31 cents. Virgin and Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd have Qantas in their sights as the two lower cost airlines step up moves to gain a bigger slice of the Australian travel market. Virgin Blue’s head of commercial activities Liz Savage says the airline is overhauling its services in a bid to lure more corporate travellers. Virgin Blue intends to double its 10% share of the business-travel market after intense competition forced the carrier to cut its profit forecast in May. While Tiger Airways is focusing on low fares, shunning frequent-flier programs and business lounges. Tiger’s Australia’s Crawford Rix says the airline’s strategy is aimed at giving customers value for money and he described business lounges as “financial black holes with mood lighting.” Virgin Blue posted a $160 million loss in year to June 30 2009.
Turning to ex-dividends: Today BT Investment Management Ltd is going with a 12.5 cent fully franked dividend and on Friday Alcoa is going.
To commodities, and the price of gold dropped $25 to US$1,158 an ounce for the July contract on Comex. Silver is down 57 cents to US$17.62 and copper is 2 cents lower at US$3.20 a pound.
The price of oil fell $1.48 to US$77.50 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
