The Australian share market is set for a relatively flat start to the trading week, after a mixed session on Wall Street as investors took in a swathe of earnings reports.
While a solid earnings report from American Express helped push the Dow higher, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped on weaker-than-expected results from Intel and General Electric.
US economic news
Investors also had some economic news to digest. US industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 per cent last month from November. Over the course of 2013, total output was up 3.7 per cent.
Currencies
The Australian dollar remains under 88 US cents, ahead of what is expected to be a quiet week. Analysts say investors are striking a cautious tone prior to next week's policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve. At 7.30AM the Aussie was buying $US87.79 cents, 53.49 Pence Sterling, 91.4 Yen and 64.84 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street was mixed with markets set to close tonight in observance of Martin Luther King Day.The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 42 points to close at 16,459, the S&P500 lost 7 points to close at 1,839 and the Nasdaq shed 21 points to close at 4,198.
European markets made small gains: London’s FTSE added 14 points, Paris gained 8 points and Frankfurt lifted by 25 points.
Asian markets were mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 13 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 147 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite shed 19 points.
The Australian share market ended a wild week of fluctuations in the red on Friday. The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 3 points, extending the weekly fall of 7 points to finish at 5,306. On the futures market the SPI is 2 points down.
Economic news
TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute will release the inflation gauge for the month of December today.
Company news
Yancoal Australia Limited
(ASX:YAL) has posted record sales and coal production during the December quarter. The company says its privatization proposal is still subject to ongoing talks between Yanzhou and the independent board committee of Yancoal. Shares in Yancoal lifted 2.86 per cent on Friday to close at 72 cents.
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ) improved its standing among business customers in the second half of 2013, however Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) is still in the top spot. The latest DBM Consultants Business Financial Services Monitor shows ANZ in second place among the big four, with National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) and Westpac Banking Corp
(ASX:WBC) trailing. Shares in ANZ dipped 0.19 per cent on Friday to close at $31.03.
Ex-dividend Merchant House International Limited
(ASX:MHI) will pay 2 cents per share unfranked.
Commodities
Gold is up $7.80 to $US1,252 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is up $0.25 to $20.30 for March. Copper is flat at $3.34 a pound. Oil is up $0.41 at US$94.37 a barrel for February light crude in New York.
