The Australian share market is eyeing a positive start to the new week after Wall Street rose on Friday. US stocks ended a choppy week of trade higher with an upbeat report on new home construction offsetting a weaker than expected read on consumer sentiment.
While no major economic news is expected today traders will be getting set for the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) May meeting minutes set for release tomorrow and the US Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes Wednesday. On the company front Leighton Holdings Limited
(ASX:LEI) will today hold its annual general meeting and first half results are expected from DuluxGroup Limited
(ASX:DLX) and Elders Limited
(ASX:ELD). The miners could be set for a tough day with precious metal prices slipping and the iron ore price down about 2 per cent.
US economic news
American consumer confidence has unexpectedly fallen from a nine-month high in April. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary read on the index of sentiment fell to 81.8 points in May from 84.1 the month before despite expectations for a rise.
American home construction climbed more than expected to a five month high last month. The Commerce Department reports housing starts jumped 13.2 percent to an annual pace of 1.07 million in April.
Global markets
Wall Street firmed on Friday following a volatile week of trade: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 45 points to close at 16,491, the S&P 500 rose 7 points to close at 1,878 and the Nasdaq rose 21 points to close at 4,091.
European markets ended mixed at the end of last week: London's FTSE 100 added 15 points, France's CAC 40 added 11 points and Germany's DAX lost 27 points.
Asian markets also closed mixed at the end of last week: Japan’s Nikkei lost 202 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 18 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 2 points.
The Australian share market fell 0.6 per cent on Friday but lifted over the week in which the Federal Budget was released: The S&P/ASX 200 index lost 32 points on Friday, trimming the weekly gain of 18 points to close at 5,479. On the futures market the SPI is pointing 7 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian dollar has firmed from Friday’s close at 7:25am was buying $US0.9371, 55.74 Pence Sterling, 95.13 Yen and 68.43 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Australian Bureau of Statistics: International merchandise imports figures for April
Company news
The proposed $2.15 billion takeover of David Jones Limited
(ASX:DJS) from South African retail group Woolworths has cleared another hurdle. The department store retailer told the ASX on Friday evening the South African Reserve Bank has approved the proposed acquisition. The news comes after Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board gave its green light for the acquisition earlier this month. The DJ’s board has unanimously backed the bid and shareholders are expected to get their chance to vote on the proposal at the end of June. Shares in David Jones closed steady at $3.94 on Friday before the announcement was made.
Brierty Limited
(ASX:BYL) has scored a $27 million contract from Main Roads Western Australia.The civil and mining contractor will work on the upgrade of 36 kilometers of the Great Eastern Highway in Western Australia’s Goldfields region. Design works are expected to start this month and the contract is slated for completion by June 2015. Shares in Brierty fell 1.25 per cent to close at $0.395 on Friday before the announcement was made.
Commodities
After gaining more than $65 last week the price of gold has lost $1.00 to $US1,293.40 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has eased $0.15 to $19.33 for May.
Copper has dipped $0.007 to $3.15 a pound.
Oil has risen $0.52 to $US102.02 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
