The Australian sharemarket is set for a cautious open today on the back of falls in the US and more leadership meetings in Europe to discuss the debt crisis.
US economic news
The unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 per cent after 200,000 jobs were added in December, according to the non-farm payrolls report released on Friday.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56 points to close at 12,360, the S&P500 dropped three points to close at 1,278 and the Nasdaq gained four points to close at 2,674.
European stocks were mixed: London’s FTSE was up 25 points, Paris fell eight points and Frankfurt lost 38 points.
To Asian markets, stocks finished mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 220 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 98 points and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 15 points.
The Australian share market closed lower on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 34 points to close at 4,109. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:25am was buying $US1.0196, 66.16 Pence Sterling, 78.41 Yen and 80.38 Euro cents.
Economic news
The ABS will release retail trade data for November; the Ai Group/HIA will release performance of construction index figures for December; and the HIA will release new home sales figures.
Company news
Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) finished 3.93 per cent lower last week at $1.47. Several passengers on a flight from London to Sydney were injured overnight when a severe thunderstorm in Indian airspace hit the aircraft. Meanwhile the airline’s regional arm, QantasLink, has acquired charter unit Network Aviation and plans to add 14 aircraft over the next year, servicing mining regions. In the 2011 financial year Qantas reported a net profit of $249 million.
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX:WPL) closed 0.26 per cent lower at $31.04 on Friday. It’s reportedly avoiding plugging gas wells to Western Australia’s standards in order to save $20 million, a move that’s prompted warnings of an environmental disaster from the state government. Fairfax Media says Woodside has applied federal regulations that are safe however, and the extra expense would be a waste. In the first half of the 2011 financial year Woodside Petroleum posted a net profit of $772 million.
Ex-dividends
Norfolk Group with an unfranked 1.5 cents.
Commodities
Gold is up $16 to $US1,616 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver has lost 61 cents at $28.68 for March. Copper has gained five cents at $3.44 a pound. Oil is down 25 cents at $101.56 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
