Despite the eleventh hour financial bailout deal to solve the banking crisis in Cyprus, US and European markets have taken a tumble overnight. The Australian share market is set to follow suit.
Figures On Wall Street: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 64 points to close at 14,448, the S&P500 lost 5 points to close at 1,552 and the Nasdaq lost 10 points to close at 3,235.
European markets took a fall: London’s FTSE lost 14 points, Paris lost 42 points and Frankfurt lost 41 points.
Asian markets closed mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 136 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 208 and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 2 points.
Yesterday, the S&P/ASX 200 index gained 23 points to finish at 4,990. On the futures market the SPI is 44 points in the red.
Currencies The Australian Dollar at 7:30 AM was buying $US1.046 cents, 68.96 Pence Sterling, 98.48 Yen and 81.43 Euro cents.
Company newsEncouraging predictions about the health of corporate Australia have been made by insiders at National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB). The bank's head of business banking, Joseph Healy, says clear signs have appeared that business lending is on the rise. Mr Healy said business credit growth could rise to the five to seven per cent range over the next five years. While that news will come as a welcome relief for many, lending growth at that level falls well short of pre-GFC strength. Shares in National Australia Bank
(ASX:NAB) closed 0.72 per cent firmer at at $30.85
Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) is pushing ahead with plans to side step milk processorsand purchase milk straight from the farmers. It’s part of a concerted effort to overturn the public perception that the supermarket giant is undermining the entire dairy industry by stocking its own, private label milk product, and selling it cheaper than the competition. Shares in Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) closed 0.44 per cent weaker at $33.88
Ex-dividends:
Oroton Group Limited
(ASX:ORL) is the only company going X-dividend today; at 22 cents, fully franked.
CommoditiesGold is down $1.60 to $US1,604 an ounce for the April contract on Comex.
Silver is up $0.12 to $28.82 for May.
Copper is down $0.02 at $3.45 a pound.
Oil is up $1.10 at US$94.81 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
