Bolstered by strong offshore leads the Australian share market is poised for a pick-up today after yesterday’s falls. Wall Street gained, despite a three-hour technical glitch on the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, following indications global manufacturing is growing along with the US labour market.
US economic news
The latest data on America’s labour market has supported evidence of a recovery: The Labor Department reported initial claims for unemployment benefits lifted 13,000 to 336,000 in the week ended August 17, holding at a near six-year low.
European economic news
Across Europe a read of manufacturing came in better than expected: The euro zone flash composite purchasing manager's index lifted to 51.7 in August, from 50.5 the month before, and remained above 50 which indicates expansion.
Chinese economic news
China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing manager’s index reached four-month high in August, climbing to 50.1 to August, from 47.7 in contraction mode the month before.
Figures
Wall Street rose on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a losing streak to finish 66 points higher at 14,964, the S&P 500 jumped 14 points to close at 1,657 and the NASDAQ ended 39 points higher despite a technical glitch to close at 3,639.
European markets were buoyed by upbeat data from a survey of European purchasing managers: London’s FTSE gained 56 points, Paris gained 44 points and Frankfurt gained 113 points.
Asian markets ended mixed yesterday despite China’s manufacturing data reaching a four-month high: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 78 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 59 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite lost 6 points.
The Australian share market bounced from session lows on the back of Chinese manufacturing data yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed declined 24 points, or 0.5 per cent, to end at 5,076 on Thursday. On the futures market the SPI is 43 points stronger.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:25AM was buying 90.08 US cents, 57.81 Pence Sterling, 88.99 Yen and 67.47 Euro cents.
Scheduled releases
The biggest week of reporting season will wrap up with full year results due from five companies: Lend Lease Group
(ASX:LLC), Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR), Crown Limited
(ASX:CWN), Sims Metal Management Limited
(ASX:SGM) and IOOF Holdings Limited
(ASX:IFL).
Ahead of the results Lend Lease yesterday re-appointed CEO and Managing Director Steve McCann and cut back potential short term incentives. Mirvac Group yesterday announced it is on the hunt for a new chairman after the sudden resignation of James MacKenzie.
Reporting season results
Shares in Echo Entertainment Group Limited
(ASX:EGP) gained 1.1 per cent after the casino operator almost doubled its annual net profit to $85.3 million and revealed an upbeat start to the new financial year.
Shares in Sydney Airport
(ASX:SYD) ended steady after the airport owner and operator’s interim net profit sank 72 per cent, partially due to settling a case with the Australian Tax Office (ATO), but revenue rose boosted by earnings from car parking.
Shares in Village Roadshow Limited
(ASX:VRL) dropped 0.65 per cent despite the theme park operator boosting its annual net profit by 50 per cent with growth in its cinema and theme parks divisions and plans for expansion.
Shares in Treasury Wine Estates Limited
(ASX:TWE) fell 2.3 per cent after Australia's largest wine producer’s annual net profit halved to $42.3 million in the same period it dumped aged and deteriorating stock in America.
Ex-dividends
Australian United Investment Company Limited (ASX:AUI) paying a 16 cent dividend fully franked Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
(ASX:BEN) paying a 31 cent dividend fully franked
Coca-Cola Amatil Limited
(ASX:CCL) paying a 26.5 cent dividend
Cochlear Limited
(ASX:COH) paying a 30 per cent franked dividend of $1.27
Diversified United Investment Limited
(ASX:DUI) paying a 7.5 cent dividend fully franked
Integrated Research Limited
(ASX:IRI) paying a 40 per cent franked dividend of 3 cents
Commodities
Gold has risen $0.70 to $US1,371 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has lifted $0.07 to $23.04 for September.
Copper has added $0.02 at $3.33 a pound.
Oil has gained $1.18 at US$105.23 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
