Following mixed leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher today. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed higher, while the Dow dropped for the fourth day in a row. Information technology was in the positive as the best performer in the S&P 500. The greenback has hit a high after the Federal Reserve’s Chair hinted at the intention to continue to raise interest rates. The Futures index in Australia is up. On the commodities front, oil and gold have both dropped.
US economic newsUS Home Prices rose 5.8 per cent year on year to July, higher than the 5.6 per cent June increase and in line with market expectations. Seattle saw the highest increase at 13.5 per cent. The national index covering all nine US census divisions went up 5.9 per cent.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas has reported the manufacturing index in Texas rose 21.3 points this month compared to 17 last month, way above market expectations of 11.5. Shipments, new orders and employment all rose, while production dropped.
MarketsWall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1 per cent to close at 22,284, the S&P 500 is flat at 2,497 and the NASDAQ gained 0.2 per cent closing at 6,380.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE is down 0.2 per cent, Paris is up 0.03 per cent and Frankfurt is higher at 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite is up 0.1 per cent.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 13 points down to finish at 5,671.
On the futures market the SPI is 10 points up.
Company newsMonadelphous
(ASX:MND) announced it has secured new maintenance and construction work in mining and minerals and oil and gas sectors. The contracts have a combined value of about $220 million. New maintenance work secured by the engineering company includes a two-year contract to supply fixed plant maintenance services for Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) and a 12 month extension on a Woodside-operated project. Shares in Monadelphous
(ASX:MND) last traded 2.3 per cent higher to $15.38.
Ex-dividends3 companies are going ex-dividend today. MaxiTRANS Industries
(ASX:MXI) is paying 1.5 cents, Myer
(ASX:MYR) is paying 2 cents and Prime Financial
(ASX:PFG) is paying 0.45 cents, all fully franked.
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying 78.87 US cents, 58.63 Pence Sterling, 88.53 Yen and 66.91 Euro cents.
Commodities Gold has lost $14.30 to $US1,297 an ounce.
Silver has lost $0.30 cents to $US16.84 an ounce.
Oil has lost $0.13 cents to $US52.09 a barrel.
