The Australian share market looks set to open modestly higher, following mixed leads in US markets and in anticipation of Rio Tinto’s first quarter production report.
US economic news
Retail sales have come in higher than expected. The US government has shown retail sales rose 0.8% in March, ahead of analyst expectations of 0.3%.
The Commerce Department has released its US business inventories for February which shows an increase of 0.7 per cent.
Figures
Wall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72 points to close at 12,921, the S&P500 lost just below 1 point to close at 1,370 and the Nasdaq lost 23 points to close at 2,988.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 14 points, Paris is up 16 and Frankfurt gained 41 points.
Asian markets closed down: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 90 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei shedded 167 and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 2 points.
The Australian share market closed lower yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 21 points down to finish at 4,302. On the futures market the SPI is 9 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:15AM was buying $US1.0358 cents, 65.15 Pence Sterling, 83.35 Yen and 78.86 Euro cents.
Economic news
Due out today from the Reserve Bank of Australia is the minutes if its April policy meeting where the RBA decided to leave official interest rates on hold. Also out today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will issue its report on sales of new Motor vehicles for March.
Company news
Shares in Ivanhoe Australia Limited (ASX:IVA) closed 5.40 per cent down yesterday at $1.40. Ivanhoe is poised to be the first rhenium producer in Australia. The copper and gold producer has now completed its feasibility study of the Merlin project in northwestern Queensland. Ivanhoe believes the Merlin project has a strong exploration upside with specialist metals such as rhenium which are of global interest. In the first half of the 2012 financial year, Ivanhoe Australia reported a net loss of $126.4 million.
Shares in Cedar Woods Properties Limited (ASX:CWP) closed 0.58 per cent up yesterday at $3.47. The property developer says it’s in a strong position to deliver record full year profit and maintains its positive outlook. Cedar expects a net profit of about $34 million which is 21 per cent above the previous year. Earlier this month Cedar Woods raised $25 million via a share placement, to finance initiatives including the development of the Town Centre at Williams Landing in Victoria. In the first half of the 2012 financial year, Cedar Woods reported a net profit of $10.9 million.
Commodities
Gold is down $10.50 to $US1,650 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.017cents to $31.37 for May. Copper is flat at $3.63 a pound. Oil is up $0.10 at $103.00 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
