The Australian share market looks to open lower after weak offshore leads, following a slump on Wall Street influenced by a steep drop in the price of oil and a general slump in the energy sector.
In US economic news, the Commerce Department reported a 3 per cent rise in factory orders for March, a 0.5 per cent improvement on expectations.
Looking to the figures the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed flat, at 12,808, the S&P500 closed 5 points lower at 1,357 and the NASDAQ eased 22 points to close at 2,842.
European stocks were mixed on Monday; London’s FTSE up 13 points, Paris was down 12 and Frankfurt down 27.
Asian markets and stocks were mixed; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 88, Tokyo Nikkei was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 21.
The Australian share market finished yesterday slightly lower; the S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 41 points to close at 4,785. On the futures market, the SPI is currently 29 points lower.
The Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying $1.0839 US cents, 65.76 Pence Sterling, 87.76 Yen and 73.14 Euro cents.
In economic news, the Housing Industry Association’s new home sales figures will be released for March.
On Tuesday shares in Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) fell 0.74 per cent to close at $82.11. Rumours are circulating on the markets today that Rio is lining up a bid to by US aluminium company Alcoa, having reportedly secured a $US25 billion syndication loan for acquire the company. The alleged move comes as aluminium prices creep up, but not yet as high as they were before the GFC. In the 2010 financial year Rio Tinto recorded a net profit of $14.9 billion.
Shares in Telstra (ASX:TLS) closed yesterday 0.35 per cent higher at $2.89. The telco has employed a former chief executive of Orange Sky Entertainment Group to head up its China operations, in what some media reports say is an effort to penetrate the world’s most populous nation. The company recorded a 16 per cent lift in revenue from its Chinese online businesses last year.
In the first half of the 2011 financial year Telstra recorded a net profit of $1.2 billion.
The two companies that are going ex-dividend today are Australian Pharmaceutical Industries with a fully franked dividend of $0.01, and Steamships Trading Company, with an unfranked dividend of $0.15.4.
In commodities, Gold is down $16.70 to $US1,540 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is down $3.50 at $42.58 for July and copper is up $0.06 at $4.25 a pound. Oil is down $2.47 at $111.05 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
