Local stocks receive mixed leadsAAP...

Local stocks receive mixed leads
AAP http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Australian-market-receives-mixed-leads-ZGRWV?OpenDocument

The Australian share market has received a mixed set of leads from overseas markets in offshore trading, with Wall Street's main indices and silver trading higher, but oil, copper and gold prices weaker.

At 0645 AEDT on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index contract was 22 points higher at 4,906 points.

In economics news on Friday, the Australian Industry Group-Housing Industry Association performance of construction index (PCI) for December is due at 0930 AEDT.

There are no equities news items scheduled locally for Friday.

The Australian share market closed lower on Thursday, amid profit-taking as weakness in the banking sector offset gains in some of the big energy and resources stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 22.0 points, or 0.45 per cent, at 4,899.4 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 16.3 points, or 0.33 per cent lower at 4,930.5 points.

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Wall St gains on GE, Bank of America
By Edward Krudy of Reuters
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/US-STOCKS-SNAPSHOT-Wall-St-dips-at-open-on-stronge-ZGKCM?OpenDocument

NEW YORK The Dow and the S&P 500 rose after Bank of America and General Electric rallied on positive broker comments, but investors were cautious a day before the release of key monthly non-farm payrolls data.

The latest Reuters poll suggests the US economy stopped shedding jobs in December. US stocks have rallied over the past month as investors have become more optimistic about the economy. Job growth would bolster that view while a weak report could disappoint.

"I don't think there is going to be a number that is too good," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago. "Investors will be willing to look past the potential for higher interest rates."

But Mr Ablin said investors may be setting themselves up for a fall by taking too rosy a view of Friday's number.

Thursday's small move higher pushed the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 to new 15-month highs, continuing the equity market's slow upward trend of recent weeks.

The top performer among S&P sectors was the financials, which gained 2.1 per cent after Credit Suisse upgraded Bank of America to "outperform." The stock, a Dow component, climbed 3.3 per cent to $16.93, while the KBW Banks index shot up 4.1 per cent.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 33.18 points, or 0.31 per cent, to end at 10,606.86. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 4.55 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 1,141.69. But the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 1.04 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,300.05.

The CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, hit a new 16-month intraday low at 18.70, before paring back around the closing bell at about 18.98, a drop of one per cent. The move down may suggest a lack of bearish hedging bets ahead of Friday's jobs report. The VIX closed at 19.06, down 0.5 per cent.

GE shares rose 5.2 per cent to $16.25 after J.P. Morgan raised its price target on the stock to $22 from $20, saying investors underappreciate potential earnings recovery at the GE Capital finance unit.

A majority of retailers reported better-than-expected December sales, according to Thomson Reuters data, sending the S&P retail index up 0.8 per cent.

Still, Abercrombie & Fitch sank 9.8 per cent to $US32.67 after December sales fell 19 per cent, and American Eagle Outfitters Inc slid 3.1 per cent to $US17.02.

Sears Holding Corp was a bright spot, rising 11.6 per cent to $US99.18 after forecasting strong fourth-quarter profit.

The Nasdaq was pressured after Google Inc sweetened its bid for On2 Technologies with a cash portion that boosted the deal's value by 20 per cent to $US134 million, sending the stock down 2.3 per cent to $US594.09.

Shares of home builders took off after Lennar Corp posted its first quarterly profit in almost three years, pushing its shares up 12.9 per cent to $15.46. The Dow Jones home construction index rose 6.4 per cent.

Volume was moderate on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1.19 billion shares changing hands, below last year's estimated daily average of 2.18 billion.

On the Nasdaq, however, about 2.30 billion shares traded, well above last year's daily average of 1.63 billion.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about three to two, while on the Nasdaq, about four stocks rose for nearly every three that fell.