The Australian share market is set to open stronger, a positive start to the new financial year. Wall Street ended higher for the fourth session in a row as the June quarter comes to a close.
US economic news
Factory activity in the US Midwest accelerated in June. The Institute for Supply-Management-Chicago said its business barometer rose to 61.1, a drop had been anticipated. And jobless claims fell by 1,000 to 428,000 last week. Economists had expected a drop to 420,000.
Figures
On Thursday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 153 points to close at 12,414, the S&P500 rose 13 points to close at 1,321 and the NASDAQ gained 33 points to close at 2,774.
European stocks were higher: London’s FTSE up 90 points, Paris gained 58 and Frankfurt rose 82 points.
To Asian markets and stocks were higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 337, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 19 points and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 34.
The Australian share market rose on Thursday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 79 points to close at 4,608. On the futures market the SPI is 19 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:35AM was buying $1.0717 US cents, 66.79 Pence Sterling, 86.34 Yen and 73.92 Euro cents.
Australian economic news
Today we’ll see the Australian Industry Group/PricewaterhouseCoopers performance of manufacturing (PMI) index for June, the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) new home sales for May and the RBA’s index of commodity prices for June.
Company news
Lynas Corporation Ltd (ASX:LYC) shares last traded at $1.98 before they were placed in a trading halt pending an announcement. Malaysia has asked the Australian rare earths miner to meet recommendations by an independent review panel on its processing plant worth $230 million. The plant has stirred up public concern over safety and environmental issues. The review panel identified 10 technical issues that Lynas must address before the next licensing phase of the project. Lynas Corporation recorded a $20.5 million net loss in the last half of 2010.
On Thursday shares in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (ASX:SGT) ended the day 0.85 per cent higher at $2.38. SingTel and its Australian subsidiary Optus signed an agreement for a three-year committed revolving credit facility with 12 banks in Singapore and Australia. The SingTel credit facilities are worth approximately $2.8 billion. SingTel says it’s using the funds to refinance existing loans and for general corporate purposes. Singapore Telecommunications posted a profit of $2.9 billion in the year to 31 March 2011.
Ex-dividends
There are eight companies going ex-dividend today. They include Graincorp Ltd with a fully franked dividend of $0.20, and Viterra Inc with an unfranked dividend of $0.041.
Commodities
Gold is down $7.60 to $US1,502 an ounce for the August contract on Comex, silver is up $0.06 to $34.81 for July and copper is up $0.06 at $4.27 a pound. Oil is up $0.65 at $95.42 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
