The Australian share market looks set to make gains in early trade, defying a largely flat close to the trading day on Wall Street following disappointing Chinese industrial output data and a slight rise in US retail sales.
In the United States, retail sales edged up by just 0.1 per cent in April, beating the 0.3 per cent decline analysts expected.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 27 points to close at 15,092, the S&P 500 added 0.1 point to close at 1,634 and the NASDAQ gained 2 points to close at 3,439.
European markets also had a lacklustre session: London’s FTSE added 7 points, Paris lost 9 points and Frankfurt added 1 point.
Asian markets swung wildly: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 331 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 175 and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 5 points.
The Australian share market closed flat after a volatile session.The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4 points up to finish at 5,210.
On the futures market the SPI is 16 points up.
Currencies
That disappointing industrial production data from China weighed on the Aussie, amid a resurgence by the greenback . The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US99.54 cents, 65.09 Pence Sterling, 101.31 Yen and 76.72 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release its lending finance data for March. The Finance News Network will be reporting from the RIU Resources Round Up conference as it kicks off in Sydney today and of course The Federal Budget will be announced tonight from our nation’s capital. We’ll have a full report on that tomorrow.
To company news
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) owned Aussie Home Loans has named Bankwest senior executive Ian Corfield as its new CEO, according to media reports. Mr Corfield will begin the new role on June 3, following Stephen Porges' departure last month. Bankwest is also owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which last month had its takeover of Aussie Home Loans approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Shares in CBA lifted 0.81 per cent yesterday to close at $71.14.
Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) has been ordered to pay $200 million to companies controlled by Gina Rinehart and Angela Bennett after a court found the mining giant should have been paying royalties based on a 43-year-old agreement. Ms Rinehart and Ms Bennett argued that Rio should have been paying royalties on two Pilbara iron ore deposits sold by their fathers in 1970. The NSW Supreme Court ruled that Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting should have been paid royalties since the mines came into production. A Rio spokesman said the company is examining the judgment and considering its options. Shares in Rio Tinto shed 1.47 per cent of the value yesterday to close at $57.59.
Ex-dividend Peters MacGregor Investments Limited
(ASX:PET) which will pay 9 cents per share partially franked.
Commodities
Gold is down $2.30 to $US1,434 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.04 to $23.70 for July. Copper is up $0.01 at $3.36 a pound. Oil is down $0.87 at $US95.17 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
