The Australian share market looks to widen this week’s falls after Wall Street tumbled for a third straight session. Ongoing European debt concerns continue to rattle investors as Germany’s Chancellor warned the crisis could ‘‘take years, not weeks to resolve’’. The euro dropped to its lowest level since January, gold sank to a five-month low and commodity prices have weakened. The US dollar strengthened and the Australian dollar has dropped below parity.
US economic news
The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed import prices gained 0.7 per cent last month, the biggest monthly rise since April. Export prices added 0.1 per cent in November after a fall of 2.1 per cent the month before.
Figures
Wall Street fell on Wednesday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131 points to close at 11,823, the S&P500 lost 14 points to close at 1,212 and the Nasdaq back-peddled 40 points to close at 2,539.
European stocks finished lower on Wednesday: London’s FTSE was down 123 points, Paris was down 103 points and Frankfurt was down 99 points.
To Asian markets, stocks retreated: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 93 points, Tokyo Nikkei was down 34 and China’s Shanghai Composite down 20 points.
The Australian share market clawed back from steeper losses but still ended in the red on Wednesday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 3 points to close at 4,191. On the futures market the SPI is 30 points down.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:30AM was buying 99.1 US cents, 64.09 Pence Sterling, 77.35 Yen and 76.35 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Australian Bureau of Statistics are new motor vehicle sales data for November and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s quarterly bulletin.
Company news
Shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) firmed 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, closing at $49.38. Two hours later the bank was hit with a computer glitch that prevented customers from accessing money from ATMs, EFTPOS, online or phone banking. The issue was blamed on a "network connectivity problem” that was resolved shortly after 10pm yesterday and services are understood to now back to normal. In a bizarre coincidence the bank was hit was computer glitch on exactly the same day last year and said at the time it was because of a ''late running overnight file''. In the 2011 financial year Commonwealth Bank generated a net profit of $6.4 billion.
Shares in Macquarie Group Limited (ASX:MQG) lost 0.12 per cent yesterday, closing at $24.13. Macquarie group has reportedly sold down its stake in utility asset Thames Water to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. According to media reports the investment bank has offloaded a 9.9 per cent stake in the UK’s biggest water and sewerage company for an undisclosed sum. Macquarie will still remain a significant shareholder with a stake slightly under 40 per cent. Macquarie Group reported an interim net profit of $308 million in the six months to the end of September.
Ex-dividends
No companies are going ex-dividend today. Coming up tomorrow is Singapore Telecommunications.
Commodities
The price of gold is down $76.20 to $US1,586 an ounce for the February contract on Comex.
Silver is down $2.33 to $28.94 for March.
Copper is down $0.16 at $3.28 a pound.
Oil is down $5.19 at $94.95 a barrel for January light crude in New York.
