Following more strong leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market looks set to continue where it left off yesterday at market open. The Dow posted its fifth straight record close gaining, Boeing and Caterpillar contributing most to the gains. The S&P 500 also hit an all-time, rising 0.15 per cent high as financials rose more than 1 percent to lead the advancers. Not to be outdone the NASDAQ Composite hit a record, before closing .1 of a per cent higher.
As tensions on the Korean peninsula continued to ease, investors fled the safe haven gold. It fell one per cent, touching a two and a half week low.
Economic newsInvestors will be interested to see if there are any fresh insights on the economy when the Reserve Bank issues minutes of the last board meeting held on September 5.The ABS will release the June quarter report on residential property prices along with weekly data on consumer confidence.
Markets To the figures: Wall Street closed in record territory again: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed .3 of a per cent up at 22,331, the S&P 500 is up 0.2 per cent to close at 2,504 and the NASDAQ was also up 0.1 per cent to close at 6,455.
European markets closed higher ; London’s FTSE up 0.5 per cent, Paris is up 0.3 per cent and Frankfurt was also up 0.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher: Tokyo’s Nikkei was closed due to a public holiday , Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 1.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 0.3 per cent.
And back home, the Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 26 points up to finish at 5,721. On the futures market the SPI is up 7 points.
CompanyANZ
(ASX:ANZ) yesterday announced an update on its divestment from the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank. Under a revised arrangement, ANZ’s 20 per cent stake in the Banks will be taken up by Boashan Iron & Steele Co, which joins China COSCO shipping corporation. Bao will acquire a 10 per cent stake instead of Shanghai Sino Poland Enterprise Corporation. The key financial terms of the sale arrangement remain unchanged. Shares in
(ASX:ANZ) last traded up 1 per cent at $30.18.
Ex-dividends6 companies are going ex-dividend today, Chalmers Limited
(ASX:CHR) are paying 3.5 cents, Cochlear Limited
(ASX:COH) are paying $1.40, Sigma Healthcare Group
(ASX:SIG) are paying 2.5 cents and Webjet Limited
(ASX:WEB) are paying 10 cents, all fully franked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:15AM was buying $US79.61 cents, 59 Pence Sterling, 88.83 Yen and 66.62 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has shed $14.20 to $US1,311 an ounce.
Silver has dropped 45 cents $US17.25 an ounce
Oil has lost .08 cents to $US50.36 a barrel.
