The Australian share market looks to be in for a steady start to the day, following a flat finish on Wall St. US stocks closed with little changed as investors sat on the sidelines. Back at home, all eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia this afternoon, with the RBA being widely tipped to leave the official interest rate on hold at 4.75 per cent.
US figures: The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the week closing 23 points higher at 12,400, the S&P500 closed flat at 1,333 and the NASDAQ was also flat, closing at 2,789.
European stocks started the week mixed: London’s FTSE up 7 points, Paris down 12 and Frankfurt down 4.
Asian markets, stocks were higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 349, Tokyo Nikkei was up 11 and China’s Shanghai Composite was closed.
The Australian share market started the week higher: The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 25 points to close at 4,887. On the futures market the SPI is currently 9 points higher.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $1.0366 US cents, 64.27 Pence Sterling, 87.13 Yen and 72.91 Euro cents.
Economic news: Australia’s central bank holds its April board meeting and delivers interest rate decision. Also due out today, the Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index for March, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries monthly car sales for March and the Australian Bureau of Statistics international trade in goods and services for February.
Company news: On Monday shares Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) firmed 0.71 per cent to close at $2.83. Telstra has outlined plans to cut its own retail stores by one fifth as part of its strategy to cut costs. A Telstra spokesperson has told the Australian Financial Review that the nation’s largest telco will lower company-owned stores from 103 to less than 80 as it works to boost the percentage of online sales from 8 to 35 per cent by 2013. Telstra yesterday announced that it had acquired video conferencing and collaboration company iVision to accelerate its growth in internet protocol (IP) video services. The move is geared towards making it the number one provider of video conferencing services in Australia and one of the top three providers in Asia. In the first half of the 2011 financial year Telstra reported a net profit of $1.2 billion.
Yesterday shares in Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX:RHC) rose 1.73 per cent to close at $18.85. Ramsay Health Care's French subsidiary has purchased the Clinique Convert Hospital in France for $21 million. Australia’s largest private hospital operator says it is excited about the growth prospects in the French market, and the acquisition of the hospital is an important first step for the growth of its recently acquired subsidiary. Ramsay has also been selected by Queensland Health to build and operate a private hospital near the future Sunshine Coast University Hospital. In the first half of the 2011 financial year Ramsay Health Care booked a net profit of $103.4 million.
Ex-dividends: Seven companies are going ex-dividend today, among them we have Aberdeen Leaders with a $0.02 fully franked dividend, Sigma Pharmaceuticals with a $0.15 fully franked dividend, Sylvastate with a $0.10 fully franked dividend and, Whitefield with a $0.08 fully franked dividend.
Commodities: Gold is up $4.10 to $US1,433 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is up $0.76 to $38.49 for May and copper is steady at $4.26 a pound. Oil is up $0.53 at $108.47 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
