Following positive leads from US markets, the Australian share market looks set to open higher this morning. US stocks saw a rebound on Friday despite a rollercoaster week with all three benchmarks advancing at least 1.2 per cent. Investors were bolstered by talk of a German economic stimulus. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters still filled the streets in Hong Kong yesterday despite heavy rain. It's the eleventh week of protests. On the commodities front, gold has fallen and oil has added slightly.
Markets Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.2 per cent to close at 25,886, the S&P 500 gained 1.4 per cent to close at 2889 and the NASDAQ rose 1.7 per cent to 7896.
European markets closed higher on Friday: London’s FTSE added 0.7 per cent, Paris gained 1.2 per cent and Frankfurt was up 1.3 per cent.
Asian markets closed higher on Friday: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.9 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite closed higher, up 0.3 per cent.
Taking all of this into equation, the SPI futures are pointing to 0.7 per cent gain. On Friday, the Australian share market closed 3 points (0.04 per cent) lower at 6406.
Company news Austal
(ASX:ASB) has delivered the fourth Guardian Class Patrol Boat (GCPB) to the Australian Department of Defence. The vessel was gifted by the Government of Australia to the Government of Samoa during a handover ceremony at Austal’s Henderson shipyard, attended by the Samoan Deputy Prime Minister the Hon. Fiame Naomi Mata’afe and the Commissioner of Police.The vessels will be supported with ongoing maintenance from Austal’s Service Centre Operations in Cairns and creates opportunities for Austal in the Pacific. Shares in Austal
(ASX:ASB) closed 2.5 per cent higher at $3.77 on Friday.
Reporting Season- Altium Ltd
(ASX:ALU)- BlueScope Steel Limited
(ASX:BSL)- GWA Group Ltd
(ASX:GWA)- Lendlease Group
(ASX:LLC)- NIB Holdings Limited
(ASX:NHF)Ex-DividendsCredit Corp Group
(ASX:CCP) is paying 36 cents fully franked
Insurance Australia
(ASX:IAG) is paying 20 cents 70 per cent franked
CurrenciesOne Australian Dollar at 7:40 AM was buying 67.82US cents, 55.83 Pence Sterling, 72.13 Yen and 61.15Euro cents.
Commodities Iron Ore futures suggest a 0.6 per cent gain.
Gold has fallen $7.60 to US$1524 an ounce.
Silver was down 9 cents to US$17.12 an ounce.
Oil has added $0.14 to US$54.81 a barrel.
