The Aussie sharemarket is expected to open flat today following Wall Street’s leads.
US
The unemployment rate tumbled to a two and a half year low in November. The Labor Department says nonfarm payrolls increased by 120,000 jobs, and the jobless rate dropped to 8.6 per cent, the lowest since March 2009, from nine per cent in October.
Figures
On Friday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than half a point point to close at 12,019, the S&P500 closed flat at 1,244 and the Nasdaq gained 0.73 points to close at 2,627.
European stocks closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE was up 63 points, Paris was up 35 points and Frankfurt was up 45 points.
To Asian markets, stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 38 points, Tokyo Nikkei was up 46 and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 26.
At the end of last week, the Australian share market closed higher: The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 59 points to close at 4,288. On the futures market the SPI is down three points.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20am was buying $1.0272 US cents, 65.71 Pence Sterling, 80.17 Yen and 76.46 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is releasing business indicators for the September quarter; ANZ’s set to release job advertisements series figures for November; The Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (PSI) figures are coming out for November, and the TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation gauge for November is also to be expected today.
Company news
At the end of last week shares in Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) closed 2.11 per cent higher at $32.41. A study by research company Neilson says the push by supermarkets, like Wesfarmer’s Coles, to increase house-brand product sales will lead to profits of about $4 billion for the grocery products industry, shifting from manufacturers to retailers. Coles currently generates 22 per cent of its sales from house brands. Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) reported a profit of $1.9 billion for the 2011 financial year.
On Friday shares in Downer EDI Limited (ASX:DOW) gained 1.27 per cent to finish at $3.20. The group’s refinanced a $260 million facility covering underperformance on its contract to deliver 78 trains to Sydney’s metropolitan rail network. The company says the facility was completed in challenging financial markets with the strong support of the company's key financiers. Downer EDI Limited (ASX:DOW) reported a loss of $27.7 million for the 2011 financial year.
Commodities
Gold is up $6.70 at $US1,751 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is down three cents to $32.69 for March. Copper is up seven cents at $3.58 a pound. Oil is up 76 cents to $100.96 a barrel for January light crude in New York.
