The futures are pointing to a steady start for Aussie shares today, following Wall St closing mixed on Friday. For the week US stocks delivered the third consecutive week of gains following encouraging earnings reports.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 14 points lower at 11,133. The S&P 500 Index is up 3 at 1,183 and the NASDAQ is up 20 at 2,479.
European stocks were lower: London’s FTSE down 16 points, Paris is down 10 and Frankfurt down 5.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 132 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei was up 50 points and China’s Shanghai Composite down 8.
The Australian share market finished higher on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 25 higher to 4,648 and on the futures market the SPI200 is down 4 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 7:50AM was buying 98.67 US cents, 62.96 Pence Sterling, 80.24 Yen and 70.64 Euro cents.
In local economic news: Due out today the Australian Bureau of Statistics producer price indexes for September and the Housing Industry Association’s new home sales data for September.
In company news: Shares in ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX) closed 2.52% stronger at $34.96 on Friday. Speculation is mounting that the Singapore Exchange is planning to offer over $8 billion for the Australian Securities Exchange operator, ASX. Last Friday ASX put its own shares into a trading halt, it said pending an announcement of a possible business combination. Shortly after Singapore Exchange also went into a trading halt. Details of the proposed tie-up are expected to be revealed today when the chiefs of both exchanges meet in Sydney. ASX increased its annual net profit by 4.6 per cent to $328.14 million in the year to 30 June 2010.
Shares in Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) closed 1.96% firmer at $12.50 on Friday. Oil and gas producer Santos has announced that its $16 billion joint venture Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas project has won environmental approval from the Federal Government. However the green light to proceed is conditional on Gladstone LNG maintaining the highest constructing and operating environmental standards as well as measures to manage water and protect biodiversity. Santos says the government’s approval is significant, adding that the project promises to deliver billions of dollars of investment and the creation of thousands of jobs. Santos booked a $198 million profit in the first half of 2010.
To ex-dividends: The two companies going ex-dividend today are Austereo Group with a 5.7 cent fully franked dividend and Halcygen Pharmaceuticals with a 2 cent fully franked dividend. Coming up tomorrow GPT Group, Mitchell Communication Group and SteriHealth.
To commodities: and the price of gold is down US$0.50 to US $1325 an ounce for the December contract on Comex, silver is down US$0.02 to $23.12 and copper is up $0.02 at $3.80 a pound. The price of oil is up $1.13 to US$81.69 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
