The Australian share market is expected to begin the day of trade in positive territory after US stocks rallied amid encouraging signs of economic and political stability offshore.
Wall Street got an early boost after China reported a pickup in exports in August, and news from Syria helped calm investor nerves about the region.
Currencies
The Australian dollar also pushed higher on that strong data out of China. At 7:20AM the Aussie was buying $US92.34 cents, 58.84 Pence Sterling, 91.98 Yen and 69.66 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street was on the up and up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 141 points to close at 15,063, the S&P 500 added 17 points to close at 1,672 and the NASDAQ soared to a 13-year high, up 46 points to close at 3,706.
European markets snapped a three-session winning streak: London’s FTSE lost 17 points, Paris dropped 9 points and Frankfurt up by 0.65 of a point.
Asian markets rallied, highlighted by a 3.4 per cent surge in China's Shanghai Composite after that strong export data. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 344 points following a report showing that the economy grew faster in the second quarter than initially estimated, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 129 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 73 points.
The Australian share market closed 0.7 per cent up yesterday, led by rallies in regional markets.
The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 36 points up to finish at 5,181. On the futures market the SPI is 11 points up.
Economic news
NAB will release its business confidence survey for August.
Company news
Qantas Airways Limited
(ASX:QAN) has lifted its target for fly-in-fly-out market share in Western Australia to 40 per cent, according to media reports. The increase reportedly comes after the airline met its initial target of 30 per cent of market share, excluding commercial routes such as Perth to Port Hedland. Shares in Qantas rose 3.79 per cent yesterday to close at $1.37.
BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and two other mining companies may take legal action against the Northern Territory government over its decision to impose a ban on seabed mining in the Gulf of Carpentaria, according to media reports. One of the companies, Northern Manganese Limited
(ASX:GOT) has filed a claim with the NT government that may lead to compensation. The decision reportedly impacted offshore exploration licences held by BHP, Northern Manganese and an Yukida Resources. Shares in BHP lifted 1.37 per cent yesterday to close at $35.64.
Commodities
Gold is up $0.20 cents to $US1,387 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.17 to $23.72 for December. Copper is up $0.02 at $3.28 a pound. Oil prices have lost support after hitting 28-month highs over fears of fallout from a possible US military attack on Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons. Oil is down $1.01 at US$109.52 a barrel for October light crude in New York.
Ex-dividend
Australian Ethical Investment Limited
(ASX:AEF)
