The Australian share market looks set for steady start to the day after Wall Street dipped following a trifecta of weak economic reports. In Europe an auction of €2.5 billion of Spanish 10-year bonds was met with a healthy appetite, despite lingering concerns about the nation’s rising borrowing costs.
US economic news
First time unemployment claims in the US came in higher than expected, despite posting a drop. The Labor Department reported 386,000 people filed for first time jobless claims last week, down 2,000 from the week before but still more than forecast.
Existing home sales continued to fall last month. The National Association of Realtors showed sales of existing homes declined 2.6 per cent in March to an annualised rate of 4.48 million.
A gauge on manufacturing has come in lower than expected this month. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index fell to 8.5 in April, from 12.5 in the month before and the lowest level since January.
Figures
Wall Street finished lower after choppy trade on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 69 points to close at 12,964, the S&P500 lost 8 points to close at 1,377 and the Nasdaq lost 24 points to close at 3,008.
European markets also fell on Thursday: London’s FTSE lost 0.74 points, Paris lost 66 points and Frankfurt lost 61 points.
Asian markets closed mixed yesterday: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 214 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 79 and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 2 points.
The Australian share market finished 0.4 per cent higher on Thursday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index added 14 points to finish at 4,363. On the futures market the SPI is 3 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:15AM was buying $US1.0337 cents, 64.4 Pence Sterling, 84.42 Yen and 78.7 Euro cents.
Economic news out today
Australian Bureau of Statistics: International trade price indexes for March
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA): Business sales indicator for March
Company news
Shares in News Corporation (ASX:NWS, NASDAQ:NWSA) added 0.05 per cent yesterday, closing at $18.95. News Corp has suspended some of the voting rights of all non-US investors after realising it has violated US foreign ownership laws. The laws limit ownership and voting power of corporations owning broadcast station licensees to no more than 25 per cent by non-US stockholders. Foreign ownership in News Corp’s Class B shares is understood to have hit 36 per cent, almost 50 per cent more than permitted by US law. News Corporation reported a net profit of $1.9 billion in the first half of its 2012 financial year.
Shares in Wesfarmers Limited (ASX:WES) rose 0.79 per cent yesterday, closing at $29.35. As competition in the supermarket sector heats up Wesfarmers owned-Coles has revamped its loyalty system, FlyBuys. Coles will send new FlyBuys cards to households next week, luring customers to participate in the loyalty scheme through offering 50 per cent more points through earning one point for every $1 spent. Customers will then be able to transfer points into FlyBuys dollars online to be used at Coles partner companies including Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX:TLS), AGL Energy Limited (ASX:AGK) and Webjet Limited (ASX:WEB). Wesfarmers reported a profit of $1.2 billion in the first half of its 2012 financial year.
Ex-dividends today
UXC Limited (ASX:UXC)
Ex-dividends next week
CPT Global Limited (ASX:CGO)
Steamships Trading Company Limited (ASX:SST)
Commodities
Gold is up $1.80 to $US1,641 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver is up $0.29 to $31.78 for May.
Copper is down $0.004 at $3.63 a pound.
Oil is down $0.40 at $102.27 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
