The Australian share market looks set to open lower despite a rise in US stocks, but concerns about a possible military strike on Syria did eat in to Wall Street’s early gains.
US economic news
Better-than-expected data on manufacturing activity and construction spending gave US shares a boost, with ISM's index showing very strong growth for a second month at 55.7 in August, a stronger read than the 55.4 surge in July.
Figures
Wall Street edged higher overnight: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24 points to close at 14,834, the S&P 500 added 7 points to close at 1,640 and the NASDAQ lifted 23 points to close at 3,613.
European markets were subdued: London’s FTSE lost 38 points, Paris fell 32 points and Frankfurt dropped 63 points.
Asian markets were buoyed by solid manufacturing data from China and Europe: Tokyo’s Nikkei soared 406 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lifted by 219 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 25 points.
The Australian share market finished the day just ahead after the RBA held the cash rate at 2.5 per cent in line with expectations. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 8 points up to finish at 5,197. On the futures market the SPI is 38 points down.
Currencies
The Australian dollar hit a two-week high after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept the cash rate unchanged. At 7:30AM the Aussie was buying $US90.66 cents, 58.26 Pence Sterling, 90.29 Yen and 68.84 Euro cents.
Economic news
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release our National Accounts, including gross domestic product for June quarter. Australia's economic growth is expected to have remained at a below average level in the June quarter.
The Australian Industry Group and Commonwealth Bank will put out the Australian Performance of Services Index (PSI) for August.
Company news
Westpac Banking Corp
(ASX:WBC) will prioritise wealth management and Asia as key areas of technology investment, amid a rise in mobile banking, according to media reports. The bank has outlined the next phase of its strategy after investing $2 billion on technology systems since 2008. Shares in Westpac gained 0.38 per cent yesterday to close at $31.94.
Former Toll Holdings Limited
(ASX:TOL) chief executive Paul Little will not re-join the company's board. Mr Little, who retired from Toll in December 2011, ran the company for 26 years, and still owns a 5 per cent stake. Shares in Toll lifted about a half a per cent yesterday (0.54 per cent) to close at $5.62.
Commodities
Commodities rose overnight on concerns the US may take military action against Syria: Gold is up $15.90 to $US1,412 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.92 to $24.43 for December. Copper is up $0.07 at $3.30 a pound. Oil is up $0.89 at US$108.54 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
Ex-dividend