The Australian share market is poised to make slight gains today, after Wall Street extended its record run.
European Economic News
That was despite disappointing economic news from Europe, revealing the eurozone shrank 0.2 per cent in the three months to March, marking the sixth consecutive quarterly contraction and the longest recession since the bloc was established in 1999.
US economic news
Producer prices fell for the second month in April, driven by a fall in petrol prices.
The producer price index fell 0.7 per cent in April, following a 0.6 per cent decline in March, revealing subdued inflationary pressures as the Fed pumps liquidity into the economy.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 60 points to close at a record 15,276, the S&P 500 added 8 points also closing at a fresh high of 1,659 and the NASDAQ gained 9 points to close at its highest level since 2000 at 3,472.
London’s FTSE gained 7 points, Paris added 16 points and Frankfurt gained 23 points.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 114 points, Tokyo’s Nikkei added 338 and China’s Shanghai Composite added 8 points.
The Australian share market closed 0.6 per cent down, dragged lower by mining stocks. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 29 points down to finish at 5,192.
On the futures market the SPI is 2 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:15AM was buying $US99.02 cents, 65.01 Pence Sterling, 101.24 Yen and 76.84 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release international merchandise imports data for April and it’s the third and final day of the RIU Resources Round Up conference in Sydney. FNN will bring you updates from the event throughout the day.
Company news
Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) has the green light from the Federal Government to go ahead with its $1.3 billion bauxite mine and port development project in western Cape York. The multinational miner, through its subsidiary RTA Weipa Pty Ltd, will extend mining operations on an area of the company's existing mining lease south of the Embley River and Weipa. Shares in Rio Tinto dived 3.09 per cent yesterday to close at $55.77.
Virgin Australia Holdings Limited
(ASX:VAH) has issued a profit warning, declaring underlying profit before tax this fiscal year will be less than the previous year. The airline blames the downgrade on the adverse impact of the introduction of the Sabre reservation system in the third quarter. The company also says slower than anticipated improvement in trading and economic conditions will impact the bottom line. Virgin issued that guidance after the market closed yesterday, with shares ending the session flat at $0.46.
Commodities
Gold is down $28.30 to $US1,396 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.72 to $22.66 for July. Copper is down $0.02 at $3.26 a pound. Oil is up $0.09 at $US94.30 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
