Following the ANZAC day public holiday, the Australian share market looks set to open higher on the back of positive Wall Street leads after Apple reported strong earnings and the Federal Reserve kept interest rates near zero.
US economic news
Following the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee has kept interest rates unchanged and near zero and is likely to remain flat, through to late 2014.
The central bank also expected the economy to grow between 2.4 and 2.9 per cent this year which would indicate a 1.7 per cent growth on last year.
The Federal Reserve also forecast unemployment rates to fall to around 7.8 per cent by the end of the year, it currently sits at 8.2 per cent.
Figures
Wall Street closed up yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 89 points to close at 13,091, the S&P500 is up 19 points to close at 1,391 and the Nasdaq added 68 points to close at 3,030.
European markets closed up London’s FTSE is up 9 points, Paris gained 64 and Frankfurt added 114 points.
Asian markets closed mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 31 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 93 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 18 points.
The Australian share market on Tuesday closed higher: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 8 points up to finish at 4,360. On the futures market the SPI is currently 17 points higher.
Turning to currencies and the Australian Dollar at 7:25AM was buying $US1.0368 cents, 64.15 Pence Sterling, 84.34 Yen and 78.44 Euro cents.
Company news
Shares in Lend Lease Group (ASX:LLC) closed 0.41 per cent down yesterday at $7.35. Lend Lease will pay $54 million in fraud charges after conceding it had overcharged customers for a decade. The construction company is said to have added hours of unworked overtime to time sheets. The fraud penalties surround work done on a number of high-profile projects including the September 11 memorial and Grand Central Terminal. Former executive James Abadie has pleaded guilty for overcharging Bovis' clients and faces imprisonment.
Lend Lease Group reported a first half net profit of $219.4 million.
Shares in Rio Tinto Limited (ASX:RIO) closed 1.58 per cent down yesterday at $65.60. Rio Tinto and Chinalco's listed subsidiary, Chalco, have inked a deal to develop and operate the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. A consortium led by Chalco has made an earn-in payment of $US1.35 billion providing the group with a 47 per cent stake in the venture. In the 2011 financial year Rio Tinto reported a full year net profit of $6.7 billion.
Commodities
Gold is down $1.50 to $US1,642 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.39 to $30.36 for May. Copper is up $0.028cents at $3.695 a pound. Oil is up $0.57 at $104.12 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
