It’s looking like a positive start for the market today, as US stocks edged higher overnight, but not so for Asia and Europe. Investors are still wary, with renewed concerns about oil as it breaks through the psychological $100 a barrel mark.
US economic news: The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book report showed all 12 of the bank’s districts’ economies were expanding.
On Wednesday, Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed 9 points higher to 12,067, S&P500 up 2 points to close 1,308 and the NASDAQ up 11 points to close 2,748.
European stocks were weaker: London’s FTSE down 21 points, Paris fell 33 and Frankfurt down 42.
To Asian markets and stocks were lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 348, Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 262 and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 5 points.
The Australian share market finished lower on Wednesday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index easing 23 points to close at 4,803 and on the futures market the SPI is up 18 points.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US1.0167 cents, 62.29 Pence Sterling, 83.27 Yen and 73.32 Euro cents.
Economic news: The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release data on international trade in goods and services for January and building approvals for the same month. And the Australian Industry Group Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Australian Performance of Services Index for February will also be released today.
Company news: Shares in Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) fell 2.15 per cent to close at $2.28. Additional oil leaks in two more of Qantas’ Airbus A380s have forced the airline to return to Rolls-Royce for an explanation. That’s according to the Australian Financial Review. The Airline is demanding to know why there have been so many maintenance issues with the engines. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the two incidents. Singapore Airlines has also reportedly faced five cases of engine oil leaks. Qantas says the problems have cost the airline $80 million, according to media reports. For the half year to December 31, 2010, Qantas booked a net profit of $239 million.
Shares in News Corporation (ASX:NWS) fell 1.95 per cent to close at $17.64. News Corp’s buy-out of BSkyB may be given government approval as early as this week, according to sources. The US$12.5 billion buy-out is likely to force News Corp to spin off TV news channel Sky News. The takeover debate has raised questions relating to the British government’s relationship with Rupert Murdoch. Mr Murdoch is seeking to buy the 61 per cent stake of BSkyB which News Corp does not already own, raising concerns he could gain too much control over public opinion. In the six months to 31 December 2010, News Corporation booked a net profit of $1.46 billion.
To ex-dividends: 17 companies are going ex-dividend today. Among them we have Goodman Fielder with a $0.05, 30% franked dividend, IOOF with a $0.21 fully franked dividend, Iluka Resources with an $0.08 unfranked dividend, Nick Scali with a $0.04 fully franked dividend, Perpetual with a $0.95 fully franked dividend and West Australian News with a $0.19 fully franked dividend.
To commodities: Gold is up $6.50 to $US1,437 an ounce for the April contract on Comex, silver is up $0.41 to $34.84 for March and copper is down 0.01 at $4.50 a pound. Oil is up $2.60 at $102.23 a barrel for April light crude in New York.
