Following yesterday’s sell-off the SPI is this morning pointing the Australian share market higher ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last meeting minutes. Wall Street was buoyed overnight by merger activity with the Dow and S&P 500 lifting and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumping almost 0.9 per cent. In Europe shares in UK’s AstraZeneca tumbled after its board again rejected a takeover offer from US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Global markets
Wall Street rose into the new week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21 points to close at 16,512, the S&P 500 gained 7 points to close at 1,885 and the Nasdaq gained 35 points to close at 4,126.
European markets started the week mixed: London's FTSE 100 lost 11 points, France's CAC 40 added 13 points and Germany's DAX added 30 points.
Asian markets fell on Monday: Japan’s Nikkei fell 90 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 8 points, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 21 points.
The Australian share market plunged 1.3 per cent yesterday, accelerated by steep losses in the mining sector: The S&P/ASX 200 index sank 70 points on Monday to end at 5,409. On the futures market the SPI is pointing 20 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian dollar has slipped slightly from Monday’s close and at 7:20am was buying $US0.9329, 55.49 Pence Sterling, 94.66 Yen and 68.06 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Reserve Bank of Australia: May board meeting minutes
Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA): Business sales indicator for April
Company news
Eyes will again be on Fortescue Metals Group Limited
(ASX:FMG) today after the price of iron ore dipped under $US100 a tonne for the first time in almost two years. The pure play iron ore miner’s stock has been smashed this year and lost about a quarter of its value as the price of the steel making commodity continues to slide on concerns for demand from China. Separately, Resource Development Group Limited
(ASX:RDG) announced after the market closed yesterday it will be providing support for Fortescue’s Iron Bridge project. Resource Development Group is set to assist with the electrical and control systems scope work for stage one of Fortescue’s project which is located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Shares in Fortescue Metals Group fell 4.59 per cent on Monday to close at $4.37.
Australand Property Group
(ASX:ALZ) has been named the preferred purchaser on a residential site north east of Sydney. The industrial property investor is now poised to acquire a 1.3 hectare residential infill site in North Ryde in joint venture with La Salle Investment Management. Australand expects the site will benefit from its connectivity to transport infrastructure and nearby retail, education and employment precincts. The company has forecast the project will deliver earnings from 2016. Shares in Australand Property Group dipped 0.71 per cent on Monday to close at $4.21.
Ex-dividends
Incitec Pivot
(ASX:IPL) paying a 3.5 cent dividend, 75 per cent franked
Commodities
Gold has firmed $0.40 to $US1,293.80 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has added $0.03 to $19.35 for May.
Copper has lifted $0.02 to $3.17 a pound.
Oil has gained $0.59 to $US102.61 a barrel for June light crude in New York.
