The SPI is pointing to a higher start to the day for the Australian share market, having received mixed leads. While Wall St gained, European stocks fell after Euro zone officials delayed more loans for debt laden Greece.
Figures:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average started the week 76 points higher, closing at 12,080, the S&P500 added 7 points to 1,278 and the NASDAQ rose 13 points to close at 2,630.
European stocks closed lower on Monday: London was down 22, Paris down 24 points and Frankfurt down 14 points.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 96, Tokyo Nikkei was up 3 and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 22.
The Australian share market started the week by falling to a nine-and-a-half-month low: The S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 33 points to close at 4,452. While on the futures market the SPI is currently 35 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $1.0582 US cents, 65.3 Pence Sterling, 84.94 Yen and 73.96 Euro cents.
Australian economic news
Due out today is the Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes for the June Monetary Policy Meeting.
Company news
On Monday shares in Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) fell 2.18 per cent to close at $39.91, following a series of bad news for the Perth-based oil and gas producer. At the end of last week Woodside lost 4 per cent after it revealed a shock $900 million cost blowout for its Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia. Ratings agency Fitch have since warned that it expects the LNG sector to be struck with even more cost increases and timetable overruns. Moody's Investors Service has placed Woodside on review, as it considers a possible credit downgrade. Woodside Petroleum reported a net profit of $1.5 billion in the 2010 financial year.
Shares in Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) started the week 0.54 per cent higher at $1.85. The rare earths producer yesterday announced that the International Atomic Energy Agency is closer to revealing the results of its investigation into Lynas’ planned Advanced Materials Plant in Malaysia. The rare earth refinery, currently under construction, has attracted significant controversy through public protests that allege it poses dangerous radioactive risks. Lynas says the independent investigation has now concluded and the findings will be reported by the end of this month. In the last half of 2010 Lynas booked a net loss of $20.5 million.
Ex-dividends
No companies are going ex-dividend today, but coming up later this week are Count Financial, Ardent Leisure and Aspen Group.
Commodities
Gold is up $2.90 to $US1,542 an ounce for the August contract on Comex, silver is up $0.32 to $36.07 for July and copper is down $0.03 at $4.07 a pound. Oil is up $0.25 at $93.26 a barrel for July light crude in New York.
