The Australian sharemarket is tipped to open more than one per cent higher today, with thanks to strong leads from Europe and the US ahead of Wednesday’s second summit of EU leaders, when they make final decisions on how to stabilise Europe’s banks and cut Greece’s debt.
Figures
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 267 points to close at 11,809, the S&P500 rose 23 points to close at 1,238 and the NASDAQ was up 39 points to close at 2,637.
At the end of last week, European stocks rose: London’s FTSE was up 104 points, Paris was up 87 and Frankfurt was up 204.
To Asian markets, and stocks were mixed: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 43, Tokyo Nikkei was down 3 points and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 14.
On Friday the Australian share market closed lower: The S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 3 points at 4,142. On the futures market the SPI is currently up 45 points.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 8:20am was buying $1.0346 US cents, 64.9 Pence Sterling, 78.83 Yen and 74.62 Euro cents.
Economic news
The ABS is expected to release producer price indices for the September quarter today.
Company news
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) closed at $4.25 on Friday, having lost 1.39 per cent over the day. The miner’s chief executive Nev Power has inherited his predecessor Twiggy Forrest’s ambitious growth strategies. He told The Australian that “the sooner you can bring more volume into the market, the sooner you enjoy the high prices and high returns”. He also said the company’s current strategy is about responding to China’s strong demand with rapid development and by ramping up projects. Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) reported an annual net profit of $952 million for 2011.
At the end of last week OM Holdings Limited (ASX:OMH) closed at 60 cents, gaining 2.56 per cent for the day. The board of the Bermuda-based miner will meet today and make a decision over a plan to build a $US450 million ferro alloy smelter in Malaysia. The meeting comes before a shareholder vote on spinning off the company’s smelting and mining assets into two listed vehicles. But chief executive Peter Toth says it’s not possible to have discussions with investors until the market understands “the metrics of Malaysia”. OM Holdings Limited (ASX:OMH) reported a net profit of $10.157 million for the six months to June.
Ex-dividends
HFA Holdings is going ex dividend today with a fully-franked five cents, as is Hydromet with a fully franked 0.1 cent dividend.
Commodities
Gold is up $20.60 to $US1,636 an ounce for the December contract on Comex. Silver is up 91 cents to $31.19. Copper is up 17 cents at $3.22 a pound. Oil is up $1.33 at $87.40 a barrel for November light crude in New York.