The Australian share market is poised to open weaker after commodities fell to a two year low, sending Wall St into the red. Oil prices dropped 8 per cent to under $100 a barrel sparking a broad based retreat ahead of the US government’s monthly jobs data due on Friday.
US economic news: The Labor Department reported that first-time claims for unemployment benefits added 43,000 to 474,000 in the last week of April, the highest figure since August 2010.
Figures: On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 139 points to close at 12,584, the S&P500 lost 12 points to close at 1,335 and the NASDAQ slipped 14 points to close at 2,815.
European stocks closed mixed: London’s FTSE down 64 points, Paris down 38 and Frankfurt was up 3 points.
To Asian markets and stocks were also mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 54, Tokyo Nikkei was closed and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 6.
The Australian share market pared losses to close slightly higher on Thursday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index firmed 14 points to close at 4,754. While on the futures market the SPI is currently 34 points lower.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:35AM was buying $1.0589 US cents, 64.59 Pence Sterling, 84.9 Yen and 72.79 Euro cents.
Economic news: Due out today is the Reserve Bank of Australia’s statement on monetary policy, the Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance of construction index for April and also, the Senate Economics Committee’s report on competition within the banking sector.
Company news: Yesterday shares in Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) lifted 0.26 per cent to close at $81.09. The pay packets of Rio’s management were in the spotlight at the global miners annual meeting yesterday, when almost 40 per cent of shareholders registered a significant protest vote against Rio’s remuneration report. In 2010 CEO Tom Albanese took home $8.5 million, jumping 31 per cent up from the year before. It is the second year in a row that shareholders have rejected the miners remuneration, with some claiming that Rio’s record profits are a result of stronger commodity prices rather than management. Rio claims the pay is necessary to retain talent. In the 2010 financial year Rio Tinto generated a net profit of $14.9 billion.
On Thursday shares in AMP Ltd (ASX:AMP) fell 1.51 per cent to close at $5.21. That was after Australia's largest superannuation provider said net cashflows for its Financial Services business dropped 82 per cent to $42 million in the first three months of this year. AMP’s contemporary wealth management cashflow also declined by 47.4 per cent, while life insurance inflows rose by 25 per cent in the first quarter. The company completed its $14 billion takeover of rival fund manager AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd (ASX:AXA) at the end of March. In the 2010 financial year AMP recorded a net profit of $775 million.
Ex-dividends: The only company going ex-dividend today is BioTech Capital with a $0.02 unfranked dividend. Among those coming up next week are Macquarie Group and ANZ Bank.
Commodities: Gold is down $33.90 to $US1,481 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is down $3.15 to $36.24 for July and copper is down $0.14 at $4.00 a pound. Oil is down $9.44 at $99.80 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
