The Australian market looks to start the week lower on the back of Wall Street closing lower on Friday, after the credit downgrade on Spain and Italy offset better than expected jobs figures.
US economic news
The Labor Department said job growth remained flat in September at 9.1 per cent, and employers added an average of only 72,000 jobs.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 20 points to close at 11,103, the S&P500 fell 10 points to close at 1,155 and the NASDAQ declined 27 points to close at 2,479.
At the end of last week, European stocks rose: London’s FTSE was up 12 points, Paris was up 20 and Frankfurt was up 30.
Asian markets were also higher: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 535, Tokyo Nikkei was up 84 points and China’s Shanghai Composite was closed.
On Friday the Australian share market closed higher: The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 93 points at 4,163. On the futures market the SPI is currently 26 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:30am was buying 97.7 US cents, 62.78 Pence Sterling, 74.99 Yen and 72.88 Euro cents.
Economic news
ANZ is set to release its job advertisement series for September today.
Company news
Shares in BlueScope Steel Limited (ASX:BSL) closed at 82 cents on Friday, having gained 1.23 per cent over the day. The steel producer’s union agreement has been described as "alarming" and "without precedent" by an industrial relations expert. Grace Collier, who studied BlueScope’s 100-page union agreement, told today’s Australian newspaper the company should blame itself for giving too much control to key unions.
Bluescope is cutting 1000 jobs from its Port Kembla operations, and said it was because of the strong Aussie dollar and the rising cost of raw materials. Bluescope Steel Limited (ASX:BSL) posted an annual net loss of $1.04 billion this year.
At the end of last week Atlas Iron Limited (ASX:AGO) closed at $3.21, rising seven per cent for the day. The company is going to switch to monthly pricing over the next nine months, when several of its long-term supply contracts come to an end. The company said the shorter pricing reference periods will ensure prices are more reflective of current conditions. Atlas is expecting its iron ore exports to rise from 4.6 million tonnes last year to 15 million tonnes by 2015. In the 2011 financial year, Atlas Iron reported a maiden net profit of $168.6 million.
Ex-dividends
There are nine companies today, including Berklee with a fully-franked two cents; Cedar Woods Properties with a fully franked 12 cents; Integrated Legal Holdings with a fully franked one cent; and WPG Resources with a fully franked 63 cents as well as XRF Scientific, with a fully franked one cent dividend.
Commodities
Gold is up $20 to $US1,635 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is down $1.01 to $30.99. Copper is up 5 cents at $3.27 a pound. Oil is up 39 cents at $82.98 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
