Struck with negative leads the Australian share market looks to open lower today ahead of our monthly jobs data due out before noon. Though local stocks got a boost following US President Barack Obama’s re-election yesterday, global markets turned south after European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi warned of continued economic weakness in the region.
Figures
Wall Street retreated on Wednesday as concern mounted over the US fiscal cliff: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 313 points to close at 12,933, the S&P500 dropped 34 points to close at 1,395 and the Nasdaq dropped 75 points to close at 2,937.
European markets also fell on Wednesday: London’s FTSE fell 93 points, Paris fell 69 points and Frankfurt fell 145 points.
Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 155 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 2 and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.27 points.
The Australian share market spiked in the last hour of trade yesterday to close 0.7 per cent stronger: The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 32 points on Wednesday to end at 4,517. On the futures market the SPI is now 39 points lower.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:00AM was buying $US1.041 cents, 65.18 Pence Sterling, 83.31 Yen and 81.59 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Australian Bureau of Statistics: Labour force data for October, amid expectations the unemployment rate will rise from 5.4 per cent to 5.5. per cent.
Company news Harvey Norman Holdings Limited’s
(ASX:HVN) first quarter has gotten off to a weak start with quarterly pre-tax profit dropping 20 per cent from the year before. The electrical goods retailer says technology and entertainment sales continue to be affected by the cautious consumer and continued price deflation. First quarter profit dropped to $50 million while global sales fell 10 per cent to $1.3 billion. Shares in Harvey Norman Holdings fell 2.16 per cent following the announcement yesterday, closing at $1.81.
Buru Energy Limited
(ASX:BRU) has been given a boost after inking a deal with the West Australian government. The junior explorer and its joint venture partner Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation have struck a deal with the state government to provide long-term tenure over Buru’s most prospective acreage and facilitate the development of a gas supply project. Buru says its goal is the development of a domestic gas project, delivering gas into the existing domestic gas network in the Pilbara and promoting long term energy security for the state. Shares in Buru Energy gained 4.46 per cent following the announcement yesterday, closing at $2.81.
Ex-dividends today
ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ) with a 79 cent fully franked dividend
Desane Group Holdings Limited
(ASX:DGH) with a 1 cent unfranked dividend
Ex-dividends tomorrow
National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) with a 90 cent fully franked dividend
Tamawood Limited
(ASX:TWD) with a 13 cent fully franked dividend
Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) with an 84 cent fully franked dividend
Commodities
Gold is down $1.00 to $US1,714 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver is down $0.37 to $31.66 for December.
Copper is down $0.06 at $3.44 a pound.
Oil is down $4.27 at $US84.44 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
