The Australian share market looks set to rise this morning, following Wall St closing stronger overnight. US stocks lifted on better than expected earnings from Citigroup and positive data from the housing sector.
In US economic news: The National Association of Home Builders revealed that builder confidence increased in October representing the first improvement in the index for the past five months.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 81 points higher at 11,144. The S&P 500 Index is up 9 at 1,185 and the NASDAQ is up 12 at 2,481.
European stocks were higher: London’s FTSE up 39 points, Paris is up 7 and Frankfurt up 24.
Asian markets were lower: Hong Kong Hang Seng down 288, Tokyo’s Nikkei was down 2 and China down 16.
The Australian share market finished lower on Monday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 37 points lower to 4,652 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 41 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:40AM was buying 98.95 US cents, 62.27 Pence Sterling, 80.44 Yen and 70.97 Euro cents.
In economic news: Expected out today is the Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes of its October 5 monetary policy meeting.
In company news: Shares in Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX:WES) closed 0.52% down at $32.70 on Monday. Wesfarmer’s owned Coles has launched home and contents insurance to meet customer demand and remain competitive in its financial services business. The Australian Financial Review reports that following the success of Coles-branded car insurance, the new home and contents policies will be available under the Coles Home Insurance brand. Coles finance director Tony Buffin says in the paper that car policy numbers were running at more than double the level the company had expected and Coles is now considering offering travel insurance alongside its current products. Rival retailer Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) says that it too is planning to offer home insurance, though the AFR says without a related insurance provider Woolworths may need to partner with a third-party provider that could result in more expensive insurance than the Coles product. Wesfarmers booked a $1.6 billion profit in fiscal 2010.
Shares Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:VBA) closed steady at $0.46 on Monday. Virgin Blue has guaranteed that its customers will not be impacted by higher fares because of its planned alliance with Air New Zealand. According to Fairfax Media both airlines have submitted a revised application to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in an effort to convince the regulator to approve the tie-up. Last month Virgin Blue won the ACCC’s preliminary go-ahead for its proposed alliance with Middle East-based airline Etihad. Fairfax says Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand have also claimed in their revised application that they are willing to promise to maintain or increase flights on routes across the Tasman. Virgin Blue recorded a profit of $21.3 million in the year to 30 June 2010.
To ex-dividends: New Hope Corporation is going ex-dividend today with an 18.5 cent fully franked dividend, and coming up on Thursday, Trust Company will be going ex-dividend with a 17 cent fully franked dividend.
To commodities: and the price of gold is up US$0.10 to US $1372 an ounce for the December contract on Comex, silver is up US$0.13 to $24.41 and copper is up $0.02 at $3.86 a pound. The price of oil is up $1.83 to US$83.08 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
