The Australian share market looks set to get a lift following solid leads from most European markets after the eurozone and British central banks signalled that stimulus measures would continue for some time.
Europe economic news
Markets rallied as the ECB's governing council voted to hold the interest rate at an all-time low of 0.5 per cent for the third month in a row.
ECB President Mario Draghi told media he expects interest rates to remain low for an extended period of time.
Currencies
The Australian dollar moved higher on the news from Europe. At 7:20AM was buying $US91.49 cents, 60.72 Pence Sterling, 91.58 Yen and 70.86 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street was closed for the Independence Day holiday
European markets soared: London’s FTSE added 192 points after the Bank of England also held its cash rate steady, Paris jumped 107 points and Frankfurt gained 165 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 37 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 321 points on bargain buying, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 12 points.
The Australian share market continued its path of volatility, reversing half of the previous day’s falls and closing more than 1 per cent stronger. The S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 51 points to close the session at 4,795. On the futures market the SPI is 35 points higher.
There’s no major economic news out today: but AIG’s Performance of Construction Index for June will be released this morning.
Company news
Echo Entertainment Group Limited
(ASX:EGP) is expected to pursue some of its redevelopment plans despite losing out to James Packer's Crown Limited
(ASX:CWN) in a bid to secure a second casino for Sydney The decision by the NSW government to allow Mr Packer's $1.5 billion Barangaroo hotel casino proposal to proceed to the next approvals stage came after a recommendation from an independent panel chaired by former Future Fund chairman David Murray, who says the proposal will introduce competition into the market. Shares in Echo Entertainment slid 4.28 per cent on the news to close at $2.91.
Whitehaven Coal Limited
(ASX:WHC) has been given the green light for its $767 million Maules Creek open cut coal mine in north west New South Wales, almost three years after it applied for approval.
Whitehaven Coal managing director Paul Flynn says the project has been through one of the most rigorous planning approval processes ever undertaken by a mine in NSW. Shares in Whitehaven Coal lifted 1.79 per cent yesterday to close at $2.28.
Ex-dividend Abacus Property Group
(ASX:ABP) will pay 8.25 cents per share unfranked.
Commodities
Gold is down $2.20 to $US1,250 an ounce for the August contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.15 to $19.55 for September. Copper is down $0.03 at $3.15 a pound. Oil is down $0.12 at US$101.12 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
