The Australian share market looks poised for a weaker start to the day, following Wall Street closing mixed. US investors absorbed mixed economic data ahead of the longer Christmas holiday weekend. While the Aussie dollar remains above parity with the US currency.
In US economic news: The Department of Labor showed that initial jobless claims dropped 3,000 to 420,000 in the week to December 18. A better result than the rise in claims that had been expected. The Commerce Department reported durable goods orders fell 1.3 per cent in November, slightly over the 1.1 per cent decline that had been anticipated. While the Census Bureau’s new home sales index lifted 5.5 per cent in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 290,000, though came in lower than the rate of 300,000 units that had been expected. Also, The University of Michigan's final reading on consumer sentiment improved to 74.5 in December, from 74.2 in the month before, and the strongest level since June.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed 14 points higher to 11,573. S&P500 fell 2 points to 1,257 and the NASDAQ lost 6 points to 2,666.
European stocks were mixed: London’s FTSE is up 13 points, Paris is down 8 and Frankfurt is down 10.
To Asian markets, stocks were lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 142 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite down 23 points.
The Australian share market finished higher on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index firmed 21 points to close at 4,799 and on the futures market the SPI is down 18 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:40AM was buying $US1.0044, 65.16 Pence Sterling, 83.34 Yen and 76.58 Euro cents.
Company news: Shares in Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX:LEI) lost 1.17 per cent to close at $31.15 on Thursday. Incoming CEO David Stewart is set to receive a $2.4 million base salary when he steps into the position at the beginning of next year. However, while Mr Stewart also has the potential to add up to $3.6 million in incentive payments, the package represents a fall from outgoing CEO Wal King, who collected a $3.3 million pay check in fiscal 2010 in addition to an extra $7.6 million short-term incentive. Leighton Holdings reported a net profit of $615 million in the 2010 financial year.
Shares in Fairfax Media Ltd (ASX:FXJ) added 1.09 per cent to close at $1.39 on Thursday. Fairfax Media has revealed that its interim CEO Greg Hywood will take home $200,000 per month on a minimum six-month contract. Mr Hywood moved into the role earlier this month after Brian McCarthy resigned following disputes with the board. Mr Hywood became an independent director at the beginning of the year, and will not be paid director's fees while working as interim CEO. Fairfax Media posted a net profit of $282.37 million in the 2010 financial year.
To commodities: Gold is down $6.90 to $US1,380 an ounce for the February contract on Comex, silver is down $0.06 to $29.33 for March and copper is down $0.02 to $4.26 a pound. Oil is up $1.03 at $91.51 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
