The Australian share market is expected to open stronger today after receiving strong positive leads from offshore trading overnight. US and European stocks rallied from previous lows as encouraging economic data signalled some signs of life in a depressed labour market and painted an improving picture of US growth. Although worries about debt levels in the euro zone and tensions in the Korean peninsula will keep investors a little jittery, the latest economic data from the US has offset some fears, boosting investor confidence.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 151 points higher at 11,187. The S&P 500 Index is up 18 points to close at 1,198 and the NASDAQ closed 48 points higher at 2,543.
European stocks were higher: London’s FTSE is up 76 points, Paris is up 23 points and Frankfurt is up 119.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 128, Tokyo’s Nikkei was down 85 points and China’s Shanghai Composite is up 32 points.
The Australian share market finished lower on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 4 points lower to 4,585 and on the futures market the SPI200 is up 38 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:15AM was buying 98.23 US cents, 62.26 Pence Sterling, 82.1 Yen and 73.69 Euro cents.
Economic news: Due out today is the Australian Bureau of Statistics private new capital expenditure and expected expenditure for the September quarter.
On Wednesday shares in Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) closed 0.52 per cent higher at $40.77 cents. Woodside Petroleum is facing a four month delay at its Pluto LNG project valued at $13 billion. The project, which is being built on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, is now expected to produce its first LNG output sometime in August according to analyst speculation. Based on previous Woodside guidance, every extra month would add 1 per cent to project, thus, a four-month delay will bring the cost overrun to around $520 million. For the year ended 30 June 2010, Woodside reported a net profit of $1.1 billion.
Yesterday shares in Kathmandu Holdings Ltd (ASX:KMD) closed 7.56 per cent higher at $1.28. Camping and outdoor clothing company Kathmandu has started its 40 to 60 per cent discount sales yesterday as retail conditions continue to be uncertain and volatile. At the company’s first annual general meeting since listing on ASX, Kathmandu’s chief executive Peter Halkett said the company’s sales performance in the first 16 weeks of the financial year has been reasonable and if trading conditions did not deteriorate, the firm would grow profitability in the year ahead. For the year ended 31 July 2010, Kathmandu generated a net profit of $7.5 million.
Ex-dividends: A company that is going ex-dividend today is TFS Corporation with a 3.5 cent fully frank dividend. Coming up next week is BT Investment Management and Technology One.
To commodities: The price of gold is down $4.60 to $US1,373 US an ounce for the December contract on Comex, silver is down $0.044 cents to $27.53 and copper is up $0.053 to $3.76 a pound. The price of oil is up $2.61 to $83.86 cents a barrel for December light crude in New York.
