The Australian share market looks set to remain flat to moderately higher as investors follow the lead of their US counterparts by waiting and watching for a busy week of economic news, earnings reports and the US Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Analysts say investors are holding fire ahead of the US Fed meeting as well as news on second-quarter economic growth and monthly jobs data.
Currencies
The Australian dollar dipped by half a US cent as traders wait for that data. At 7:20AM the Aussie was buying $US92.05 cents, 60.01 Pence Sterling, 90.14 Yen and 69.41 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street fell: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 37 points to close at 15,522, the S&P 500 shed 6 points to close at 1,685 and the NASDAQ dropped 14 points to close at 3,599.
European markets inched up: London’s FTSE added 5 points, Paris was flat and Frankfurt gained 14 points.
Asian markets dived deep into the red: Tokyo’s Nikkei slumped by 469 points on the back of a strong yen and weaker earnings, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 119 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 35 points.
The Australian share market finished with its head just above water yesterday, boosted by strong gains in financials. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4 points up to finish at 5,046. On the futures market the SPI is 4 points higher.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will today release building approvals data for June.
Company news
Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) is tipped to reveal a slightly slower pace of growth when it reveals its fourth quarter sales figures today. Analysts are forecasting fourth quarter food and liquor sales to grow 2.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis, while overall sales across the whole Woolworths group arre expected to rise 4.5 per cent to $14.1 billion. Shares in Woolworths were up 0.48 per cent yesterday, closing at $33.77.
Navitas Limited
(ASX:NVT) is releasing its full-year results today. The result will come just days after the global education services provider announced it has refinanced its existing bank facilities with a new $275 million club facility. Shares in Navitas dropped 0.5 per cent yesterday to close at $6.
Commodities
Gold is up $6.90 to $US1,328.40 an ounce for the August contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.09 to $19.86 for September. Copper is flat at $3.11 a pound. Oil is down $0.15 at US$104.55 a barrel for August light crude in New York.
