The Australian share market is set to head south in early trade, led by US stocks which closed sharply lower after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting failed to offer any clear information about when the central bank might start pulling back on stimulus measures
US economic news
The Fed minutes revealed division among the officials, with few members wanting to reduce bond-buying soon and few urging more caution. But the minutes also showed that a number of Fed members were somewhat less confident about a near-term pickup in economic growth.
Currencies
The Australian dollar fell to a three-year low on that news from the US. At 7:35AM the Aussie dollar was buying $US89.81 cents, 57.39 Pence Sterling, 87.69 Yen and 67.28 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street was in negative territory: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 105 points to close at 14,898, the S&P 500 fell 10 points to close at 1,643 and the NASDAQ lost 14 points to close at 3,600.
European markets followed suit: London’s FTSE lost 63 points, Paris dropped 14 points and Frankfurt fell by 15 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 28 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 153 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite was flat.
The Australian share market recovered in afternoon trade yesterday to finish 0.4 per cent higher. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 22 points up to finish at 5,100. On the futures market the SPI is 41 points down.
Company news
Fortescue Metals Group Limited
(ASX:FMG) will release its full year results today. The report comes after the iron ore miner maintained its production and shipping guidance in April and announced its plans to ramp up production at its Kings development. Shares in Fortescue lifted 0.99 per cent yesterday to $4.09.
Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) will also reveal its full year result today. It comes after the Pilbara iron ore miner said it was on track to achieve shipping guidance of 7.4 million tonnes for 2013. Shares in Atlas dropped 0.53 per cent yesterday to close at $0.93.
Commodities
Gold is down $2.50 to $US1,370 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.11 to $22.96 for September. Copper is down $0.03 at $3.31 a pound. Oil is down $1.26 at US$103.85 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
