The Australian share has received a positive from the US overnight and is expected to open higher. Wall Street gained as investors responded to some rare good news out of Europe following a string of low-volume sessions. In economic news out of the US: The Federal Reserve’s September Beige Book, which offers the latest snapshot of regional economic conditions, shows that growth continued at a modest pace in 7 of the central bank's 12 districts.And in a separate report from the Fed, consumer debt fell by $3.6 billion in July – that was far less than the $5.25 billion decrease predicted by many economists.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 46 points higher at 10,387. The S&P 500 Index gained 7 points to 1,099 and the NASDAQ rose 20 to 2,229.
European stocks finished higher, London’s FTSE rose 22, Paris added 33 and Frankfurt gained 47.
Asian markets closed weaker, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 313 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 201 points and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 3 points.
The Australian share market lost ground yesterday dragged lower by the banks and mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 36 points lower at 4,537 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 30 points. The Aussie Dollar at 7:40AM was higher against the major currencies and was buying 91.89 US cents, 59.39 Pence Sterling, 77.07 Yen and 72.23 Euro cents.
In local economic news: The Australian Bureau of Statistics Labour force data for August.
In business news: Shares in AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) fell 1.18% to $5.04 on Wednesday. AMP is set to begin a strong campaign for Treasurer Wayne Swan to block National Australia Bank takeover bid for AXA Asia Pacific if the competition regulator approves the deal. The Herald’s Business Day is quoting an unnamed industry source as saying that AMP may not have the capacity to place a new bid for AXA Asia Pacific if NAB's $13.3 billion offer is blocked. The source also adds that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) concerns over consolidation in the wealth management sector meant there was no guarantee the regulator would allow the takeover to proceed. The ACCC is set to release its decision on the proposed takeover today. In the six months to June 30 2010, AMP reported a net profit after tax of $412million.
Shares in BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) lost 1.38% to $37.91 on Wednesday. As debate heats up once again on Labor’s proposed minerals resource rent tax – former BHP Billiton Ltd chairman Don Argus has reportedly questioned the Henry Tax Review which was used as the basis for implementing the controversial mining tax. The Australian newspaper reports Mr Argus as saying that he finds it interesting that the Henry Review can be labelled the most comprehensive in Australia given that it fails to address the issue of GST and excludes industry and community consultation. Mr Argus is chairing a consultation process on the proposed mining tax and says that it will address the concerns from some industry participants before a final recommendation is made to the government. BHP Billiton posted $15.26billion net profit after tax in 2010.
To ex-dividends: Among those companies going ex-dividend today are CSG with a 3 cent fully franked dividend and Country Road with a 3.62 cent fully franked dividend and Macmahon Holdings 1.5 cent unfranked and Transfield Services 9 cent fully franked.
To commodities: and the price of gold fell US$1.70 to US $1,255 an ounce for the September contract on Comex, silver added 10 cents to $19.98 and copper edged up 3 cents $3.49 a pound.
The price of oil gained 58 cents to US$74.67 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
