The Australian share market looks to be poised for a flat start to the day, following mixed overseas leads. Wall St’s key indices traded in a narrow range to close steady to mixed, as investors considered the impact of President Obama's 2012 budget proposal.
US economic news: President Obama revealed his administration’s $US3.73 trillion budget, to cut the country’s long-term deficit by around $1.1 trillion over the next decade.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed 5 points lower to 12,268, S&P500 rose 3 points to close 1,332 and the NASDAQ gained 8 points to close 2,817.
European stocks were mixed: London’s FTSE down 3 points, Paris down 5 and Frankfurt up 25.
To Asian markets, stocks were higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 292 points, Tokyo was up 120 points and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 72.
The Australian share market finished stronger on Monday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 55 points to close at 4,936 and on the futures market the SPI is up 7 points.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 8:50AM was buying $1.0028 US cents, 62.55 Pence Sterling, 83.54 Yen and 74.36 Euro cents.
Economic news: The Reserve Bank of Australia today publishes the minutes of its 1 February 2011 monetary policy meeting.
Company news: Yesterday shares in Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) firmed 0.69 per cent to close at $2.93. Telstra is embarking on a significant upgrade to its wireless internet services to take advantage of the booming business of mobile broadband. CEO David Thodey has told News Limited that the telco will this year use Australia’s first commercial release of 4G technology to increase mobile internet speeds in capital cities and regional areas. Mr Thodey says the technology can provide faster data speeds, high-quality videoconferencing and faster response times when using mobile applications or accessing the internet, adding that it is a significant milestone in the evolution of mobility in the country. Last week Telstra reported a first half net profit of $1.2 billion.
On Monday shares in Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) rose 1.5 per cent close to $24.42. Westpac is gearing up to launch a discounting campaign, hot on the heels of National Australia Bank Ltd’s (ASX:NAB) plans to pay the mortgage exit fees of Westpac and Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s (ASX:CBA) customers. According to a leaked internal email to Westpac staff, the bank has hit out at NAB’s campaign, claiming its 'more give, less take' advertising rhetoric is not resonating with their customers. In the 2010 financial year, Westpac posted a net profit of $6.4 billion.
To ex-dividends: Three companies are four going ex-dividend today and they are Argo Investments with a $0.13 cent fully franked dividend, Alumina with a $0.4 cent fully franked dividend, Computershare with a $0.14 cent 60% franked dividend and Royalco Resources with a $0.2 cent fully franked dividend. Coming up on Thursday are Ansell, GUD Holdings and Oz Minerals.
To commodities: Gold is up $4.70 to $US1,365 an ounce for the April contract on Comex, silver is up $0.54 to $30.53 for March and copper is up $0.09 $4.63 a pound. Oil is down $0.77 at $84.81 a barrel for March light crude in New York.
