The Australian share market is expected to make small gains ahead of today’s all-important RBA announcement and following lacklustre leads from Wall Street.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 5 points to close at 14,969, the S&P 500 added 3 points to close at a fresh high of 1,618 and the NASDAQ gained14 points to close at 3,393.
London’s FTSE had a solid day adding 61 points, Paris lost 6 points and Frankfurt shed 10 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 225 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 105 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 26 points.
The Australian share market closed 0.5 per cent up yesterday with mining stocks leading the way. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 27 points higher to finish at 5,156. On the futures market the SPI is 13 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US1.025 cents, 66.01 Pence Sterling, 101.87 Yen and 78.45 Euro cents.
Economic news
All eyes will be watching the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision today at 2.30pm AEST. The central bank is expected to keep the cash rate unchanged at three per cent, according to a survey of economists.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its international trade in goods and services data for March as well as its house price indexes for eight capital cities during the March quarter.
Company news
Tatts Group Limited
(ASX:TTS) and Tabcorp Holdings Limited
(ASX:TAH) say they are considering taking legal action against the Victorian Government over a health benefit levy totaling more than $80 million between the two gambling companies. Tatts says it’s received a letter from the Victorian Treasurer advising it that it must pay a health benefit levy of $42.6 million in respect of gaming operations conducted by Tatts in Victoria over the 2012/13 financial year. Meantime, Tabcorp received a letter asking for $42 million. But, the racing industry will be charged 25 per cent of that sum as Tabcorp operated its gaming machines as a joint venture.Shares in Tatts rose 0.93 per cent to close at $3.26 yesterday and Tabcorp shares also closed higher by 0.87 per cent to finish at $3.47.
Metcash Limited
(ASX:MTS) says its hardware division Mitre 10 has entered into joint ventures with Dahlsens and Capeview Building Supplies as part of its growth strategy.The Dahlsens partnership includes 11 outlets in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and North Queensland and the joint venture with Capeview Building Supplies includes stores throughout regional Victoria. CEO of Mitre 10 Mark Laidlaw says the joint ventures provide new platforms for growth in the hardware trade market. Shares in Metcash closed down 0.48 per cent at $4.12.
Commodities
Gold is up $3.80 to $US1,468 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is down by $0.05 to $23.96 for July. Copper is down $0.02 at $3.29 a pound. Oil is up $0.55 at $US96.16 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
