The Australian market is likely to head south in early trade, after US stocks fell sharply on comments from the Secretary of State John Kerry that America will demand accountability for a chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.
The sell-off came immediately after Mr Kerry said the US was still examining evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, but President Barack Obama would demand accountability for the moral obscenity.
US economic news
During the US trading session, data showed orders for long-lasting manufactured goods dropped sharply in July amid declining demand for aircraft and weak business spending.
Figures
Wall Street had a knee-jerk reaction late in the session: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 64 points to close at 14,946, the S&P 500 dropped 7 points to close at 1,657 and the NASDAQ was flat at 3,658.
European markets were mixed: London’s FTSE added 45 points, Paris lost 2 points and Frankfurt gained 18 points.
Asian markets were also mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 24 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 142 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted by 39 points.
The Australian share market closed 0.2 per cent higher, led by some strong gains among gold miners. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 12 points up to finish at 5,135.
On the futures market the SPI is 28 points down.
Currencies
The Australian dollar moved slightly lower after a volatile night of trade. At 7:30AM the Aussie was buying $US90.29 cents, 57.98 Pence Sterling, 88.92 Yen and 67.54 Euro cents.
Company news
Billabong International Limited
(ASX:BBG) is expected to unveil a significant full-year loss when it reports today. The surf wear group is still in the grip of a private equity fund tug-of-war over competing refinancing deals. Shares in Billabong fell 3.75 per cent yesterday to close at 56.5 cents.
Flight Centre Limited
(ASX:FLT) will also reveal its full year results today. Last month the travel company announced it was expecting full-year profit before tax at the higher end of its updated guidance following strong performances by the Australian and United Kingdom arms of the business. It’s tipping underlying profit before tax for fiscal 2013 to come in between $338 million and $342 million. Shares in Flight Centre lifted 2.55 per cent yesterday to close at $44.60.
Commodities
Gold is down $2.70 to $US1,393 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.27 to $24.01 for September. Copper is down $0.03 at $3.32 a pound. Oil is down $0.50 at US$105.92 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
Ex-dividend
