The Australian share market looks to follow Wall Street lower after a report detailing US banks exposure to Europe’s debt pushed US stocks deep in the red. The Fitch report hit banks the hardest as investors overlooked a report on the government’s key measure of inflation, showing prices unexpectedly eased 0.1 per cent in October.
Figures
Wall Street finished sharply lower on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 191 points to close at 11,906, the S&P500 fell 21 points to close at 1,237 and the Nasdaq retreated 47 points to close at 2,640.
European stocks finished mixed on Wednesday: London’s FTSE was down 8 points, Paris was up 16 points and Frankfurt was down 20 points.
To Asian markets, stocks closed lower: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 388 points, Tokyo Nikkei was down 79 and China’s Shanghai Composite down 63 point.
On Wednesday the Australian share market retreated from earlier gains to end 0.89 per cent down: The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 38 points to close at 4,247. On the futures market the SPI is 17 points weaker.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:40AM was buying $US1.0086, 64.14 Pence Sterling, 77.79 Yen and 74.97 Euro cents.
Company news
Shares in New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX:NHC) dipped 0.33 per cent on Wednesday, closing at $6.01. India's Aditya Birla Group has reportedly inked a confidentiality deal with takeover target New Hope to conduct due diligence on the Queensland coal producer. According to Dow Jones Newswires a potential bid could reach as much as $US5 billion and as many as 15 parties are now formally evaluating the company. New Hope put itself up for sale last month, inviting more offers after revealing it had already received a number of preliminary takeover proposals. In the 2011 financial year New Hope Corporation reported a net profit to $503 million.
Shares in iiNet Limited (ASX:IIN) dropped 2.07 per cent yesterday, finishing at $2.36, before entering into a trading halt. The internet services provider says it is preparing a response to media reports suggesting it is about to buy telecommunication provider TransACT, based in Canberra. Reports speculate the acquisition is close to being finalised and could be worth between $40 million and $60 million. iiNet plans to resume trade tomorrow morning or when an announcement is made. In the 2011 financial year iiNet generated a net profit of $33 million.
Ex-dividends
Two companies are going ex-dividend today: Brickworks with a $0.27 fully franked dividend and Incitec Pivot with an $0.08 unfranked dividend. Among those coming up next week: CSR, DuluxGroup and Newcrest Mining.
Commodities
Gold is down $7.90 to $US1,774 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver is down $0.63 to $33.82.
Copper is down $0.017 at $3.48 a pound.
Oil is up $3.22 at $102.59 a barrel for November light crude in New York.
