The Australian share market looks set to jump after gains on Wall Street following Microsoft's announcement that chief executive Steve Ballmer will retire within the next 12 months.
Us economic news
Stocks rallied on hopes the US Federal Reserve will delay any plans to pull back on stimulus measures after a new home sales report showed sales plunged 13.4 per cent in July compared to June.
Currencies
That news from the US weighed down the greenback, pushing the Australian dollar higher. At 7.25am the Aussie was buying $US90.27 cents, 58.01 Pence Sterling, 89.02 Yen and 67.45 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street closed higher on Friday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 47 points to close at 15,011, the S&P500 lifted by 7 points to close at 1,664 and the Nasdaq gained 19 points to close at 3,658.
European markets lifted on positive consumer confidence data: London’s FTSE jumped 45 points, Paris added 10 points and Frankfurt was up by 19 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei added 295 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 32 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 10 points.
The Australian share market finished the week higher amid a torrent of earnings reports. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 48 points up on Friday to finish at 5,123. Over the week the index added 9 points.
On the futures market the SPI is 22 points higher
Company news
Caltex Australia Limited
(ASX:CTX) will release its first half results today. The report comes on the back of a strong first quarter result, with net profit soaring to $190 million after a boost from inventory gains. Shares in Caltex lifted 1.45 per cent on Friday to close at $18.95.
Boart Longyear Limited
(ASX:BLY) will also reveal its first half results today. In July, the mining services provider cautioned that its full year earnings were set to be weaker amid difficult market conditions. Shares in Boart Longyear lifted 1.83 per cent to 55.5 cents.
Ex-dividend
Commodities
Gold is up $29 to $US1,396 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.70 to $23.74 for September. Copper is up $0.02 at $3.35 a pound. Oil is up $1.39 at US$106.42 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
