The Australian share market is set to open in positive territory this morning after Wall Street edged higher overnight, as better-than-expected reports on the US trade deficit and weekly jobless claims helped to offset concern about the condition of many European banks.
Looking closer at that US economic news: The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in nearly two months. The Labor Department said 451,000 jobless claims were made compared to 478,000 in the week before.
And the Commerce Department said that the US trade deficit fell to $42.8 billion in July, from $49.8 billion in June.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average firmed 28 points at 10,415. The S&P 500 Index gained 5 points to 1,104 and the NASDAQ lifted 7 to 2,236.
European markets finished higher, London’s FTSE rose 64, Paris added 45 and Frankfurt gained 57.
Asian markets closed mixed, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 78 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 74 points and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 39 points.
The Australian share market gained yesterday, boosted by financial stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 45 points higher at 4,582 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 19 points. The Aussie Dollar at 7:30AM was higher against the major currencies and was buying 92.3 US cents, 59.84 Pence Sterling, 77.39 Yen and 72.71 Euro cents.
In business news: Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX:CCL) closed steady at $12.02 on Thursday. Coca-Cola Amatil has ruled out bidding for the wine business of Foster's Group. On Wednesday Foster's rejected a surprise bid for its wine business believed to have been from New York based Cerberus Capital Management – but it still left the door open to better offers. Coca-Cola Amatil’s managing director Terry Davis ran Foster's wine business before joining the soft drinks company in 2001. But Davis has reiterated that Coca-Cola Amatil has little interest in buying Foster's wine business, adding that Coca-Cola Amatil is instead focused on its own organic growth. In the six months to July 2010, Coca-Cola Amatil posted a $212million net profit after tax.
Shares in Gunns Ltd (ASX:GNS) closed steady at 66 cents on Thursday. The Age newspaper is reporting that Gunns is set to stop native forest logging after announcing intentions to withdraw its membership in the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania. Gunns chief executive Greg L'Estrange told the Age that the company would base its future on plantation hardwoods and softwoods and the processing forest products. Mr L'Estrange has been quoted in the paper as saying that the company would consider ideas from "all parties" in effort to complete constructive forestry negotiations. The Australian Greens have reported said the woodchipping company should be compensated if it pulled out of supply deals with Forestry Tasmania. Gunns posted an annual net profit after tax of $28.5 million in the 2010 financial year.
There a many companies going ex-dividend today among them are, Boart Longyear with a 2.3 cent, 35 per cent franked, Equity Trustees with a 60 cent fully franked dividend, Flight Centre with a 44 cent fully franked dividend, Macquarie Telecom 40 cent fully franked and Seek 6.7 cent fully franked.
To commodities: and the price of gold plunged US$6.70 to US$1,248 an ounce for the September contract on Comex, silver fell 16 cents to US$19.81 and copper lost 6 cents US$3.43 a pound.
The price of oil fell 42 cents to US$74.25 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
