Outlook: Billabong looks to life raft

 The financial crisis in Cyprus weighed on Wall Street overnight, setting up a weak lead for the Australian share market this morning.
 
Last night the European Central Bank threatened to withdraw emergency funding for the tiny island-nation's embattled banking system if a bailout deal is not reached by Monday morning. 

Figures  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 90 points to close at 14,421, the S&P500 lost 13 points to close at 1,546 and the Nasdaq lost 32 points to close at 3,222.

European markets closed down: London’s FTSE lost 44 points, Paris lost 55 points and Frankfurt lost 69 points.

Asian markets ended mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 31 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 167 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 7 points.
 
Ahead of yesterday’s dramatic caucus meeting in Canberra, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 8 points down to finish at 4,959. And right now, on the futures market the SPI is 35 points in the red.  

Currencies 

The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US1.043 cents, 68.83 Pence Sterling, 99.06 Yen and 80.95 Euro cents.
 
Company news

Embattled surf brand retailer Billabong (ASX:BBG) says it is being courted by two potential bidders, despite damning forecasts for the company’s financial future.   Billabong shares were placed in a trading halt early yesterday, after plunging 20 per cent. The retailer has offered no explanation for the fall. Billabong shares were down 14.2 per cent at the closing bell at 70 cents.

Singapore Telecommunications (ASX:SGT) will continue shedding staff in an effort to cut costs. The number two carrier has turned in three straight quarters of declining revenue. A total of 1200 jobs, across marketing, sales and IT have been axed in the past year. Shares in Singapore Telecommunications added 1.48 per cent to $2.75 yesterday.  

Ex-dividends


Commodities

Gold is up $6.30 to $US1,613 an ounce for the April contract on Comex.
Silver is up $0.39 to $29.21 for May.
Copper is down $0.01 at $3.44 a pound.
Oil is down $1.05 at US$92.45 a barrel for May light crude in New York.