The Australian share market is expected to open slightly higher and the local parity parties can start, but more on that shortly.
Wall Street closed modestly higher on expectations of a Republican victory at the November elections and the Federal Reserve announced a second round of quantitative easing.
The shifting balance of power in favour of the Republicans over US President Barrack Obama’s Democrats is largely seen as a positive for Wall Street, with Republican lawmakers viewed as more pro-business and fiscally conservative.
In addition investors also took in a number of key economic reports, including:
A report from Automatic Data Processing, which showed that private-sector employers added 43,000 jobs in October.Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas also reported that employers cut 37,986 jobs last month, up 2.2% from September.
The Institute for Supply Management's services index jumped to 54.3 in October, from 53.2 the previous month. Analysts were expecting the sector to expand at a more modest pace.
And a government report showed that factory orders improved 2.1% in September, also above analysts’ expectations.
Checking the figures now and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 26 points higher at 11,215. The S&P 500 Index closed up 4 points at 1,198 and the NASDAQ added 7 points at 2,540.
European stocks were weaker: London’s FTSE slipped 8 points, Paris fell 23 and Frankfurt down 37.
Asian markets stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 473 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed for a public holiday and China’s Shanghai Composite down 14.
The Australian share market finished higher on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index finished 21 points stronger to 4,723 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 8 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar closed at a record high after the US Federal Reserve announced it would spend $US600 billion buying bonds over the next few months. At 8:20AM this morning the Aussie is buying just over US$1.0061, 62.5 Pence Sterling, 81.55 Yen and 71.13 Euro cents.
In economic news coming out today: ABS International trade in goods and services for September, ABS retail trade for September and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) monthly car sales for October.
In company news: Shares in News Corporation (ASX:NWS ) closed 0.36% higher at $16.52. The global media company has posted a 36% increase in net profit for the first quarter of 2010/11, led by a strong performance of its cable network and television divisions. News Corp reported net profit $777.49 million for the three months to September 30, 2010. First quarter EBIT was $1.15 billion, up eight per cent from a year ago. The result was in line with market consensus. News Corporation posted a $3.1 billion net profit after tax for the 2010 financial year.
Shares in Westpac (ASX: WBC) rose 0.47% to close at $23.42. The Australian Financial Review is reporting that Westpac’s chief Gail Kelly has hit back at government plans to impose new regulations on the banking sector. Ms Kelly argued that the Australian banking scene is strongly competitive not long after Treasurer Wayne Swan said that regulators would be given all the power they need to prevent bank executives from signalling interest rate increases to their competitors. It of course follows the Commonwealth Bank’s move to lift its variable lending rate by nearly double that of the RBA’s increase on Melbourne Cup Day. Westpac posted a $6.4 billion net profit in the year to 30 September 2010.
To ex-dividends: ANZ Bank will be going ex-dividend with a 74 cent fully franked dividend and tomorrow Australian Pharmaceutical Industries is going with a 1.5 cent fully franked.
To commodities: and the price of gold lost US$19.30 to US$1,337 an ounce for the December contract on Comex, silver lost US$0.40 to US$24.44 and copper is down $0.05 at $3.78 a pound.
The price of oil is US$0.79 higher at US$84.69 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
