Australian shares look to open weaker this morning following mixed overseas leads. Wall Street closed steady as investors took note of weak unemployment figures. Commodities eased after recent gains.
US economic news: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says the US economy is strengthening, with three to four per cent growth likely this year. He cautioned that despite the growth, unemployment would not reduce at a rapid rate. The Department of Labor’s weekly jobless claims report showed the number of Americans filing new unemployment claims jumped to 445,000 last week, higher than expected. The Commerce Department reported the Producer Price Index rose 1.1% in December. The trade balance was virtually unchanged at $US38.3 billion.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed 24 points weaker to 11,732. S&P500 fell 2 points to close 1,284 and the NASDAQ down 2 points to close 2,735.
European stocks were mixed: London’s FTSE fell 27 points, Paris up 30 and Frankfurt up 6.
To Asian markets, stocks were higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 113 points, Tokyo up 77 points and China’s Shanghai Composite up 6 points.
The Australian share market finished stronger on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index lifted 71 points to close at 4,795 and on the futures market the SPI is down 13 points. Turning to currencies and the Aussie Dollar at 8:35AM was buying 99.74 US cents, 63.02 Pence Sterling, 82.62 Yen and 74.67 Euro cents.
Company news: On Thursday shares in Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) gained 2.18 per cent to close at $87.05. Rio Tinto Alcan says the Queensland floods are severley affecting the supply of aluminium from smelters near Gladstone. Flooding has cut road and rail access between Gladstone and Brisbane and the port is closed, preventing deliveries. Rio advises alternative arrangements are being investigated. For the year ended 30 June 2010 Rio Tinto reported a net profit $7.4 billion.
Yesterday shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) rose 0.7 per cent to close at $2.87. The nation’s major telcos are facing a bill of more than $50 million and three months of build time to repair communication systems damaged but the Queensland floods. Tens of thousands of people have been left without mobile, landline or internet access. On Thursday Telstra’s director of service delivery said communication services in Brisbane would be back up and running within four days. Central and Western Queensland face a wait of up to 18 days without service. Telstra reported a yearly profit of $3.94 billion to June 30 2010.
To ex-dividends: There are two companies going ex-dividend today. Abacus Property Group with an 8.25 cent unfranked dividend. Viterra with a 5.14 cent unfranked dividend. Coming up next week are Euroz and Mirrabooka Investments.
To commodities: Gold is up $1.20 to $US1,387 an ounce for the February contract on Comex, silver is down $0.28 to $29.26 for March and copper is down $0.03 to $4.38 a pound. Oil is down $0.46 at $91.40 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
