The Australian share market looks to open weaker today after Wall St closed in the red for the third straight session. US stocks dropped after lacklustre profit results, and, disappointing economic news, ahead of the government’s key April jobs report due at the end of this week.
US economic news: Payroll processor ADP reported that the private sector added 179,000 jobs in April, around 200,000 fewer jobs than had been expected. A report from the Institute for Supply Management also failed to lift sentiment, its read on the services sector declined to an eight month low last month. The index of non- manufacturing companies fell to 52.8 in April from 57.3 the month before. A read more than 50 represents growth.
Figures: On Wednesday the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 84 points to close at 12,724, the S&P500 eased 9 points to close at 1,347 and the NASDAQ lost 22 points to close at 2,828.
European stocks closed lower: London’s FTSE down 99 points, Paris down 54 and Frankfurt was down 127.
Asian markets, stocks were also lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 318, Tokyo Nikkei was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 66 points.
The Australian share market closed almost 1 per cent lower on Wednesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 45 points to close at 4,740. While on the futures market the SPI is currently 22 points lower.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $1.0746 US cents, 65.16 Pence Sterling, 86.6 Yen and 72.49 Euro cents.
Economic news: Due out today is the Australian Bureau of Statistics retail trade data and also, building approvals data, both for March.
Company news: On Wednesday shares in News Corporation (ASX:NWS) lifted 0.58 per cent to close at $17.28. News Corporation latest profit result has fallen short of expectations. Third quarter earnings fell 24 per cent, weighed down by a soft performance from its film and publishing divisions in addition to a $US125 million litigation charge. In the first three months of this year the media company booked a profit of $US639 million, or $US0.24 cents per share, the result underpinned by a solid performance from its TV business. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch noted that the latest results faced challenging comparisons when set against a record contribution from the Avatar film last year. In the first half of the 2011 financial year, News Corporation recorded a net profit of just under $1.5 billion.
Shares in Country Road Ltd (ASX:CTY) last traded at $3.70. New CEO Howard Goldberg has confirmed that the fashion retailer is preparing to open more stores despite a retail downturn. The comments were made after Country Road’s extraordinary general meeting yesterday when shareholders voted in favour of $1.1 million in termination benefits for its last CEO John Cheston. Mr Cheston had originally sought $7 million in damages after company initially blamed ''irreconcilable differences'' with the board for his departure. In the first half of the 2011 financial year, Country Road increased its net profit by 4 per cent to $9.4 million.
Ex-dividends: The only company going ex-dividend today is GPT Group with a $0.04 cent unfranked dividend. Among those coming up next week are Macquarie Group and ANZ Bank.
Commodities: Gold is down $25.10 to $US1,515 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is down $3.20 to $39.39 for July and copper is down $0.12 at $4.13 a pound. Oil is down $1.81 at $109.24 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
