The Australian share market is expected to open steady this morning following flat leads from Wall Street, despite the Federal Reserve Chairman saying the economy is improving. European markets rose on the news commodities trader Glencore is in merger talks with Xstrata.
US economic news
Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to 367,000 last week.
The figures
Wall Street closed flat on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 11 points to close at 12,705, the S&P500 gained 1 point to close at 1,326 and the Nasdaq rose 11 points to close at 2,860.
European markets finished higher yesterday: London’s FTSE gained 5 points, Paris rose 9 points and Frankfurt was up 39.
Asian markets closed higher yesterday: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 406 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 67 points and China’s Shanghai Composite was up 44.
The Australian share market ended the day higher on Thursday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 42 points to finish at 4,268. On the futures market the SPI is currently 1 point higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:50AM was buying $US1.0714 cents, 67.78 Pence Sterling, 81.66 Yen and 81.52 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today, Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers will release the Australian Performance of Services Index for January.
Company news
Shares in Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) firmed 2.56 per cent on Thursday, closing at $1.60. Qantas will increase domestic Qantas and QantasLink fares from February 9 to reflect higher fuel costs. The increases will average 2.5 per cent. For example, a one way ticket between Sydney and Melbourne will increase from $117 to $122. Higher jet fuel costs and carbon pricing have been blamed for the ticket price increases. From the start of this year, Qantas says it is required to pay $2.3 million in allowances because of the EU emissions trading scheme. From July 1 the airline says the Australian carbon pricing system will cost it up to $115 million. In the 2011 financial year Qantas reported a net profit of $249 million.
Shares in Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) rose 0.34 per cent yesterday, finishing at $20.92. The bank says its decision to cut 560 positions is due to weak demand for loans and a productivity drive. Westpac staff have been briefed on the planned redundancy program. Although 560 positions will be cut, 300 to 400 staff will be made redundant. Westpac says around 100 jobs will be sent offshore. Westpac reported a net profit of $7.1 billion in the 2011 financial year.
Ex-dividends
Two companies are going ex-dividend today, they are Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited (ASX:AFI) with an 8 cent fully franked dividend and Royalco Resources Limited (ASX:RCO) with a 2 cent fully franked dividend.
Commodities
Gold is up $9.80 to $US1,759 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.37 to $34.18 for March. Copper is down $0.06 at $3.78 a pound. Oil is down $1.25 at $96.36 a barrel for March light crude in New York.
