The Australian share market is set to regain at least some of the ground it lost yesterday in early trade, with US stocks soaring on signs the economy is in recovery mode.
US investors cheered a raft of solid corporate earnings, including a better-than-expected result from Facebook with shares surging in overnight trade.
US economic news
But most investors were focused on US economic growth. Gross domestic product grew 3.2 per cent in the December quarter, on par with market expectations.
Meantime, weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected, though analysts put it down to cold weather conditions. Claims increased by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 348,000 in the latest week.
Currencies
That strong US economic growth indicator and better-than-expected earnings numbers helped counter worries about the global economy, with bargain hunters moving in to push the Australian dollar higher. At 8:20AM the Aussie was buying $US87.88 cents, 53.33 Pence Sterling, 90.19 Yen and 64.85 Euro cents.
Figures
Wall Street reclaimed lost ground: The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 110 points to close at 15,849, the S&P 500 added 20 points to close at 1,794 and the NASDAQ gained 72 points to close at 4,123.
European markets also mostly rebounded: London’s FTSE lost 6 points, Paris lifted 23 points and Frankfurt added 37 points.
Asian markets suffered heavy falls. Japan’s Nikkei in particular was hit by a rise in the yen: Tokyo’s Nikkei shed 377 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 106 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 17 points.
The Australian share market sank yesterday after the US Federal Reserve decided to continue to taper its quantitative easing program. The S&P/ASX 200 index fell 41 points to finish at 5,188. On the futures market the SPI is 18 points higher.
Economic news
Reserve Bank of Australia will release financial aggregates data for the December quarter while the Australian Bureau of Statistics will put out producer price indexes for the same period.
Company news
Wilson HTM Investment Group Limited
(ASX:WIG) says it expects to post a first half net profit after tax of $2.3 million. The result is an improvement on the $2.3 million loss after tax attributable to shareholders for the same period a year ago. Acting CEO Sandy Grant says the company remains focused on operating with a lower fixed cost base. Shares in Wilson HTM Investment lifted 2.65 per cent yesterday to close at 58 cents.
Mirvac Group’s
(ASX:MGR) James MacKenzie has resigned from his position as a non-executive director on the company's board. It comes in the same week Marina Darling also stepped down from the board. Mirvac says it is reviewing its composition and membership of the board over the coming year. Shares in Mirvac Group dropped 0.88 per cent to close at $1.68.
Ex-dividend Advanced Share Registry Limited
(ASX:ASW) will pay 1.85 cents per share fully franked.
Commodities
Gold is down $20 to $US1,242 an ounce for the February contract on Comex. Silver is down $0.42 to $19.13 for March. Copper is down $0.01 at $3.23 a pound. Oil is up $0.87 at US$98.23 a barrel for March light crude in New York.
