The Australian share market looks poised for positive start after Wall St advanced. US stocks shrugged off disappointing economic data to rise amid speculation of a second bailout for debt-laden Greece, however ended the month itself in the red.
US economic news: The S&P Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 cities revealed house prices dropped for the third straight quarter, falling 4.2 per cent in the first three months of this year. The Chicago Purchasing Managers index dropped more than expected to 56.6 in May. And also, the Conference Board's consumer sentiment index also came in lower than expected, dropping to 60.8 in May.
To the figures: On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 128 points to close at 12,570, the S&P500 added 14 point to close at 1,345 and the NASDAQ gained 38 points to close at 2,835.
European stocks closed higher: London’s FTSE up 51 points, Paris up 64 and Frankfurt was up 133 points.
To Asian markets and stocks were also higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 500, Tokyo Nikkei was up 189 and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 37.
The Australian share market finished 0.9 per cent stronger on Tuesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 41 points to close at 4,708. While on the futures market the SPI is currently 21 points higher.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:40AM was buying $1.0656 US cents, 64.8 Pence Sterling, 86.91 Yen and 74.05 Euro cents.
Economic news: Due out today is the Reserve Bank of Australia’s index of commodity prices for May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics National Accounts including gross domestic product for the March quarter, and also, the Australian Industry Group/Pricewaterhouse Coopers performance of manufacturing index for May.
Looking at company news: On Tuesday shares in Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (ASX:AAC) ended the day steady at $1.46, despite the wave of negative publicity the beef producer’s industry has endured this week. Following an ABC report on live cattle exports, aired at the beginning of this week, the federal government has suspended live exports of cattle to a number of Indonesian abattoirs amid calls for an outright ban to the country. Australian Agricultural Company exports live cattle to a number of Asian countries, including Indonesia, and is yet to comment on the impact of the suspension. In the 2010 financial year, Australian Agricultural Company recorded a net profit of $904,000.
Yesterday shares Hills Holdings Ltd (ASX:HIL) fell 1.92 per cent to close at $1.27. In yet another blow to the manufacturing industry, Hills Holdings has announced its Orrcon Steel subsidiary will no longer manufacture large pipe and tube products at its New South Wales site and instead move to importing. The company has blamed the move on a strong Australian dollar, aggressive import competition and the lack of large pipe project work in Australia. Hills Holdings expects its full-year profit, before closure and impairment charges, to be 35 to 40 per cent down from the year before. In the six months to the 31 December, Hills Holdings reported a net loss of $40.9 million.
Ex-dividends: No companies are going ex-dividend today. Coming up tomorrow are National Australian Bank and Transmetro Corporation.
Commodities: Gold is down $0.40 to $US1,535 an ounce for the June contract on Comex, silver is up $0.44 to $38.30 for July and copper is down $0.01 at $4.18 a pound. Oil is up $2.11 at $102.70 a barrel for July light crude in New York
