The SPI is pointing to a steady start for the Australian share market, having received weak offshore leads. US stocks recovered from session lows to close mixed, after global tech company HP downgraded its sales forecast and a batch of disappointing economic data.
US economic news: The Commerce Department reported that housing starts slumped more than had been expected by 10.6 per cent in April to an annual rate of 523,000 units. The Federal Reserve reported that industrial production remained unchanged in April, after a downwardly revised 0.7 per cent rise in March.
On Tuesday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 69 points to close at 12,480, the S&P500 eased half a point to close at 1,329 and the NASDAQ added 1 point to close at 2,783.
European stocks closed lower: London’s FTSE down 63 points, Paris down 48 and Frankfurt was down 131 points.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: While Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 60, Tokyo Nikkei was up 9 and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 4.
The Australian share market closed higher on Tuesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 34 points to close at 4,684. On the futures market the SPI is currently 4 points lower.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:50AM was buying $1.0629 US cents, 65.41 Pence Sterling, 86.56 Yen and 74.67 Euro cents.
Economic news: Due out today is the Australian Bureau of Statistics labour price index for March and the Westpac/Melbourne Institute survey of consumer sentiment for May.
Company news: Yesterday shares Paladin Energy Ltd (ASX:PDN) rose 2.27 per cent to close at $3.15. Paladin’s CEO, John Borshoff, has described the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan as a ''spectacular kick in the teeth'' for the nuclear and uranium industry. However, the uranium miner’s chief has forecast that the wider long term impact is likely to be minimal, believing that the lessons learnt from Fukushima will make nuclear technology even safer than before. Mr Borshoff did concede that uranium equity values have slumped by around 30 per cent since the disaster that hit Japan in March, claiming that the sector has since been oversold significantly as the market remains cautious. In the first six months of the 2011 financial year, Paladin Energy booked a net loss of $33.3 million.
On Tuesday shares in Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) lifted 0.65 per cent to close at $6.21. Fortescue has launched a new $US1 billion unsecured term loan facility. The iron ore minor says funds will be used to fund its $US8.4 billion production expansion in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Fortescue has also advised that it is negotiating a three-year $US500 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of banks. In the first half of the 2011 financial year , Fortescue Metals recorded a net profit of $309 million.
Ex-dividends: No companies are going ex-dividend today. Coming up tomorrow is Aditya Birla Minerals.
Commodities: Gold is down $10.60 to $US1,480 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is down $0.64 to $33.49 for July and copper is flat at $4.00 a pound. Oil is down $0.46 at $96.91 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
