The Australian share market is set to rise in early trade today after the Dow Jones hit a record high, despite a subdued session on Wall Street due to the Veterans Day public holiday.
The federal holiday meant that no major economic news was released, with traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange holding a moment of silence in observance of the holiday.
That didn’t stop the Dow from tracking to record highs, with the benchmark up 20 per cent this year as the surprisingly good jobs report from Friday continues to buoy US investors.
Currencies
The Australian dollar has been under pressure since that jobs release in the US last week. At 8:30AM the Aussie was buying $US93.58 cents, 58.55 Pence Sterling, 92.84 Yen and 69.8 Euro cents.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21 points to close at 15,783, the S&P 500 added 1 point to close at 1,772 and the NASDAQ was relatively flat at 3,920.
Trading was subdued in Europe because of Armistice Day. London’s FTSE added 20 points, while Paris and Frankfurt both rose by 30 points.
Asian markets rallied amid a stronger greenback versus the yen, helping Japanese exporters. In China, the focus was on a major political meeting underway in Beijing – the so-called Third Plenum- set to conclude today with a road map set out for the new government’s policies over the next decade. Tokyo’s Nikkei added 183 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged by 325 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 3 points.
The Australian share market finished the day 0.3 per cent lower, shedding nearly 65 points from its early highs despite strong Wall Street leads and positive local housing data. The S&P/ASX 200 index closed 14 points down to finish at 5,387. On the futures market the SPI is 24 points up.
Economic news
NAB will deliver its survey of business confidence and conditions for October and the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release its lending finance numbers for September.
Company news
Incitec Pivot Limited
(ASX:IPL) will report its full-year results today. The earnings update comes after the fertilizer manufacturer announced in July it would split its global manufacturing operations into two divisions, after a review of the worldwide arm. Shares in Incitec Pivot fell three quarters of a per cent (0.76 per cent) yesterday to close at $2.61.
Leighton Holdings Limited
(ASX:LEI) will release its quarterly production update today. It comes as the contractor prepares to defend itself against claims being made in a class action related to allegations of corruption in the company. Shares in Leighton lifted 0.18 per cent yesterday to close at $17.17.
Ex-dividend ING Private Equity Access Limited
(ASX:IPE) and Washington H Soul Pattinson and Co Limited
(ASX:SOL)
Commodities
Gold is down $3.50 to $US1,281 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.04 to $21.28 for December. Copper is flat at $3.26 a pound. Oil is up $0.54 at US$95.14 a barrel for December light crude in New York.
