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Positive offshore leads look to lift the Australian share market at open ahead of another busy day of earnings reports. Wall Street shrugged off ongoing geopolitical concerns and rose overnight ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes release on Wednesday. On the local front the Reserve Bank will be in focus when it releases minutes from the same meeting in which rates were again kept at a record low.
Among the companies expected to reveal results today are Amcor Limited (ASX:AMC), Arrium Limited (ASX:ARI), Investa Office Fund (ASX:IOF), InvoCare Limited (ASX:IVC), Oil Search Limited (ASX:OSH) and Toll Holdings Limited (ASX:TOL).
Global markets
Wall Street lifted into the new week: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1 per cent to close at 16,839, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 per cent to close at 1,972 and the Nasdaq rose 1 per cent to close at 4,508.
European markets started the week mixed: London's FTSE 100 gained 0.8 per cent, France's CAC 40 fell 0.4 per cent and Germany's DAX dropped 1.4 per cent.
Asian markets also ended mixed on Monday: Japan’s Nikkei firmed 0.03 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished flat, and China’s Shanghai Composite added 0.6 per cent.
The Australian share market started the week 0.4 per cent stronger following a batch of big financial results: The S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 21 points on Monday to close at 5,587. On the futures market the SPI is 25 points higher.
Currencies
The Australian dollar at 7:30am was buying $US0.9324, 55.76 Pence Sterling, 95.64 Yen and 69.8 Euro cents.
Economic news due out today
Reserve Bank of Australia: Minutes from its August meeting
Australia Bureau of Statistics: International Trade in Goods and Services data for July
ANZ-Roy Morgan: Consumer Confidence Rating
Company news
All eyes will be on BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP) today with Australia’s biggest company set to unveil its fiscal 2014 results. The global diversified miner is tipped to reveal an annual net profit of up to $US13.8 billion after reporting a profit of $US10.9 billion the year before. Analysts also expect the company to post underlying earnings of about $US13.6 billion and declare a final dividend of $US0.61 per share. Investors will also be hanging out for more information on a potential a demerger of its non-core assets reportedly worth $14 billion. Only last week BHP confirmed it is pursuing a demerger amid plans to focus on its major iron ore, copper, coal and petroleum assets and potentially also potash. Shares in BHP Billiton rose 0.26 per cent on Monday to close at $39.15 ahead of today's results announcement.
The Australian share market’s major insurers, QBE Insurance Group Limited (ASX:QBE) and Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG), will release result today. Only last month QBE warned its first half result will be impacted by its Latin American operations. The company has forecast its interim net profit to fall to about $US390 million while its cash profit is also expected to drop to about $US415 million. IAG confirmed its annual profit guidance in April and flagged gross written premium growth of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent over the year. The company said at the time it expects relatively flat gross written premium for its Australia Direct business but an improvement in its underlying margin. Shares in IAG rose 0.97 per cent to close at $6.26 ahead of today’s results announcement while shares in QBE Insurance Group closed steady at $10.71 on Monday.
Ex-dividends
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (ASX:BEN) paying a 33 cent fully franked dividend
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) paying fully franked dividend of $2.18
Computershare Limited (ASX:CPU) paying a 15 cent partially franked dividend
ResMed Inc (ASX:RMD) paying a 2.55 cent unfranked dividend
Commodities
Gold has risen $3.90 to $US1,314.50 an ounce for the December contract on Comex.
Silver has slipped $0.06 to $19.84 for September.
Copper has dipped $0.03 to $3.12 a pound.
Oil is down $1.02 to $US96.35 a barrel for September light crude in New York.
(20min delay)