The Australian share market looks set for a higher start to the last day of the financial year, after overseas stocks rose on news Greece has approved austerity measures to address its debt crisis. US stocks advanced for the third day, led by gains in the banking sector.
US economic news
The National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales increased more than expected in May, up 8.2 per cent from a month before and up 13.4 per cent from a year before.
Figures
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 73 points to close at 12,261, the S&P500 added 11 points to close at 1,307 and the NASDAQ gained 11 points to close at 2,740.
European stocks closed higher: London’s FTSE up 89 points, Paris up 72 and Frankfurt was up 124 points.
To Asian markets and stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat, Tokyo Nikkei was up 148 and China’s Shanghai Composite eased 31 points.
The Australian share market advanced 1.2 per cent on Wednesday: The S&P/ASX200 Index rose 55 points to close at 4,530. On the futures market the SPI is 31 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $1.0676 US cents, 66.47 Pence Sterling, 86.23 Yen and 73.97 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today is the Australian Bureau of Statistics job vacancies data for May.
Company news
Shares in Insurance Australia Group Ltd (ASX:IAG) lost 0.59 per cent on Wednesday to close at $3.38. Australia’s largest insurer, IAG and the New South Wales motoring body, NRMA, have denied their relationship is on the rocks. Yesterday news broke NRMA had dumped almost half of its stake in IAG, worth around $445 million. The parties responded by issuing a joint statement affirming their positive relationship and denying that any crisis talks have been held. IAG posted an interim net profit of $205 million in the last half of 2010.
Yesterday shares in Centro Properties Group (ASX:CNP) added 2.63 per cent to close at $0.039, that was after the embattled property group announced it has sold its US assets to Blackstone Real Estate Partners. The shopping centre owner will net $US650 million from the sale which will mainly be put to reducing debt. Centro says the sale was a critical first milestone in the company’s restructuring process, and, proceeding with the restructure is the only realistic opportunity for security holders to retrieve any value for their investment. Centro Properties Group reported an interim net profit of $790 million in the last half of 2010.
Ex-dividends
No companies are going ex-dividend today. Among those coming up tomorrow are Graincorp and iShares S&P/ASX20.
Commodities
Gold is up $10.20 to $US1,510 an ounce for the August contract on Comex, silver is up $1.11 to $34.75 for July and copper is up $0.12 at $4.21 a pound. Oil is up $1.88 at $94.77 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
