The Australian sharemarket is set to open flat this morning following mixed offshore leads. US stocks ended mostly higher but European markets struggled.
US economic news
New claims for unemployment benefits decreased by 15,000 to 372,000 last week.
And private sector hiring accelerated last month, business adding 325,000 jobs.
The figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3 points to close at 12,416, the S&P500 rose 4 points to close at 1,281 and the Nasdaq gained 22 points to close at 2,670.
European stocks closed lower: London’s FTSE was down 44 points, Paris fell 49 points and Frankfurt lost 16 points.
To Asian markets, stocks finished mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 86 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 71 points and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 21 points.
The Australian share market closed lower on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 45 points to close at 4,143. On the futures market the SPI is currently 1 point weaker.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:50AM is buying $US1.0268, 66.28 Pence Sterling, 79.26 Yen and 80.3 Euro cents.
Company news
Yesterday shares in ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) closed 1.33 per cent lower at $20.74. The bank has sold its 9.6 per cent stake in a Vietnamese lender, Sacombank, as it turns its attention to its own operations in the country. ANZ will sell its stake to rival Vietnam Export Import Commercial Joint Stock Bank for an undisclosed amount. ANZ reported a net profit of $5.4 billion in the 2011 financial year.
Yesterday shares in Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) closed 1.29 per cent lower at $1.52. The discovery of small cracks in the wing of a Qantas A380 has led to the detection of similar problems in four other planes. According to the report by Fairfax Media, the cracks don’t pose an immediate threat to the safety of the aircraft. The Australian Associated Press reports that Airbus has informed airlines and has developed an inspection and repair procedure. In the 2011 financial year Qantas reported a net profit of $249 million.
Ex-dividends
There aren’t any coming up today but on Monday we have Norfolk Group and the following week Countplus, Merchant House International and Tower.
Commodities
Gold is up $7.40 to $US1,620 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver has gained $0.20 to $29.30 for March. Copper has fallen 1 cent at $3.43 a pound. Oil is down $1.41 at $101.81 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
