The Australian share market looks set to open lower after US markets dipped overnight as investors expressed concerns over demand for Apple products and in anticipation of a speech to be delivered by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Figures
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 19 points to close at 13,507, the S&P500 lost 1 point to close at 1,471 and the Nasdaq lost 8 points to close at 3,118.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE lost 14 points, Paris added 2 and Frankfurt gained 14 points.
Asian markets closed up: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 149 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 149 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 69 points.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 10 points up to finish at 4,720. On the futures market the SPI is 1 point up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20AM was buying $US1.056, 65.74 Pence Sterling, 94.46 Yen and 79.00 Euro cents.
Company news
Macmahon Holdings Limited
(ASX:MAH) has rejected Sembawang Australia’s Pty Ltd latest proposal released yesterday, on the basis that it is not in the interests of shareholders. The decision follows a further proposal made by Sembawang, despite a press release issued on Sunday, confirming it would not be making any further offers. Macmahon says the revised proposal offers no certainty of financial upside. The Perth based company is continuing to finalise its extraordinary general meeting for shareholders to consider Leighton Holdings Limited
(ASX:LEI) offer who has agreed to buy the construction arm for $20 million. Shares in Macmahon Holdings closed 1.92 per cent up yesterday at $0.265.
All eyes will be on Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) today as the mining giant is due to release its December quarter production figures. Analysts are tipping flat to weak numbers for the last three months of last year but expect overall annual production to rise. Deutsche Bank is forecasting annual production of 254.3 million tonnes with steady production of 67 million tonnes over the three months. Shares in Rio Tinto closed 0.29 per cent up yesterday at $66.00.
Ex-dividends One company is going ex-dividend today and that is Euroz Limited
(ASX:EZL) with a 1.5 cents fully franked dividend.
Commodities
Gold is up $8.80 to $US1,669 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.70 to $31.11 for March. Copper is down $0.02 at $3.64 a pound. Oil is up $0.58 at US$94.14 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
