The futures are suggesting a slightly higher start to the week for Aussie shares, following mixed offshore leads. Wall St closed steady on Friday while in Europe, the sovereign debt crisis continued to weigh on investors, with Moody's Investors Service cutting Ireland's credit rating, and sending the major European indices lower.
In US economic news: The Conference Board’s leading economic index for November rose 1.1 per cent, slightly below expectations but above the 0.4 per cent lift the month before and the quickest pace since March. While the Labor Department's monthly report on regional and state unemployment revealed the unemployment rate increased in 21 states and the District of Columbia in November compared to 14 states the month before. The national jobless rate added 0.2 per cent to 9.8 per cent in November, little changed from the same time last year.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed 7 points weaker to 11,492. S&P500 firmed 1 point to 1,244 and the NASDAQ rose 6 points to 2,643.
European stocks were lower: London’s FTSE is down 9 points, Paris is down 21 and Frankfurt is down 42.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 46 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei down 7 points and China’s Shanghai Composite down 4 points.
The Australian share market finished lower on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 21 points lower at 4,763 and on the futures market the SPI is up 8 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 98.77 US cents, 63.67 Pence Sterling, 82.97 Yen and 75.02 Euro cents.
Company news: Shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) lifted 0.73 per cent to close at $2.77 on Friday. The federal government is today due to reveal the complete business plan behind its $36 billion national broadband network. The Australian Financial Review says the plan has undergone radical revisions and as a result, defused Telstra’s hopes of scoring an $11 billion deal with the company before the year is out. Further details expected today include the anticipated pricing and profitability of the network, as well as how many customers are expected to use the network. Telstra booked a profit of $3.94 billion in fiscal 2010.
On Friday Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) shares fell 2.39 per cent to close at $4.91. Uranium miner Paladin Energy has inked a $260 million deal to secure Fronteer Gold’s uranium assets, according to The Australian. Paladin says the acquisition will help consolidate its position as the largest independent, pure play, publicly listed uranium producing company in the world. The paper reports that the deal will place Fronteer as Paladin’s biggest shareholder with a 6.7 per cent interest. Paladin Energy posted a net loss of $63.12 million in fiscal 2010.
Ex-dividends: PaperlinX SPS Trust is going ex-dividend today with an unfranked dividend of over $3.71. Coming up tomorrow is Thorn Group and on Thursday Ardent Leisure and Australian Infrastructure Fund. To commodities: Gold is up $8.20 to $US1,379 an ounce for the February contract on Comex, silver is up $0.35 to $29.13 for March and copper is up $0.04 to $4.16 a pound. Oil is up $0.32 at $88.02 for February light crude in New York.
