Outlook: Aus shares set to open higher Following positive leads,...

Outlook: Aus shares set to open higher

Following positive leads, the Australian share market looks set to open higher today.
Wall Street’s strong performance yesterday was buoyed by a rise in Apple’s share price, and gains from energy stocks which were supported by stronger oil prices.

Markets

Wall Street closed higher yesterday:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.0 per cent to close at 17,711,
the S&P 500 gained nearly 1 per cent to close at 2,067
and the NASDAQ gained 1.2 per cent to close at 4,775.

European markets closed mixed:
London’s FTSE gained 0.2 per cent,
Paris lost 0.2 per cent
and Frankfurt was closed due to public holidays.

Asian markets closed higher:
Tokyo’s Nikkei added 0.3 per cent,
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.8 per cent,
and China’s Shanghai Composite gained 0.8 per cent.

The Australian share market closed higher yesterday:
The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 30 points up to finish at 5,359.

On the futures market the SPI is 47 points up.

Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying $US0.7289 cents,

Economic news
The Reserve Bank will release its Monetary Policy Meeting minutes later today.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will also release its latest monthly data regarding new motor vehicle sales.