The Australian share market looks poised for weakness this morning after US markets dipped. Fears about the imminent year-end fiscal cliff deadline offset upbeat economic news and relief about Greece’s latest debt deal. Sentiment was also dampened by a warning from The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forecasting a slowdown in the global economy.
US economic news
Consumer confidence in America has hit a four and a half year high. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose to 73.7 in November, the highest level since early 2008.
The Case-Shiller 20-city index revealed US house prices rose more than expected, increasing 3.6 per cent in the September quarter.
Figures
Wall Street dipped on Tuesday The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 89 points to close at 12,878, the S&P500 lost 7 points to close at 1,399 and the Nasdaq lost 9 points to close at 2,968.
European markets lifted on Tuesday: London’s FTSE added 13 points, Paris added 1 point and Frankfurt added 40 points.
Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 18 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 34 and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 26 points.
The Australian share mark bounced at open and ended 0.7 per cent higher on the back of news Greece had struck a debt deal yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 33 points on Tuesday to finish at 4,457. On the futures market the SPI is 19 points weaker.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US1.045 cents, 65.22 Pence Sterling, 85.85 Yen and 80.76 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Australian Bureau of Statistics: Construction work done for the September quarter
Company news Aristocrat Leisure Limited
(ASX:ALL) has bought a US online casino operator called Product Madness for an undisclosed sum. The gaming services provider says the acquisition will strengthen its online gaming presence which it believes is the key to future growth. Product Madness has created a number of games for social media site Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and boasts 3.5 million monthly active users. Shares in Aristocrat Leisure gained 3.62 per cent on Tuesday to finish at $2.86.
Village Roadshow Limited
(ASX:VRL) has announced Village Roadshow Pictures has extended its partnership with Warner Bros. Entertainment by five years. Under the new agreement both companies, who are responsible for the Ocean’s and Matrix franchises, will continue to together produce and finance films through to 2017. Village Roadshow has also upsized its film production finance to more than $US1.1 billion. Shares in Village Roadshow gained 1.35 per cent on Tuesday to finish at $3.75.
Ex-dividends today
ALS Limited
(ASX:ALQ) with a 21 cent dividend, 50 per cent franked
Commodities
Gold is down $7.30 to $US1,742 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver is down $0.16 to $33.98 for December.
Copper is flat at $3.53 a pound.
Oil is down $0.56 at $US87.38 a barrel for January light crude in New York.
