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Following soft positive leads from US stocks, and higher oil prices overnight the Australian share market looks set to open higher/lower. A one per cent jump in the iron ore price will also help support local stocks.
On Wall St, the NASDAQ closed at a 15 year high, surpassing a record set in 2000 during the dot com boom. Meanwhile, strong earnings reports from AT&T and Ebay helped offset some uninspiring economic data.
US Economic news
New home sales pulled back from the seven year high set in February tumbling 11.4 per cent to 481,000 in March.
The US Labor Department said unemployment added just 1000 to 295,000 for the week, signaling a low level of lay- offs.
And flash PMI figures for April also dipped to 54.2 from 55.7 in March showing weaker growth.
Markets
Wall Street closed higher yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent to close at 18,059, the S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent to close at 2,113 and the NASDAQ advanced 0.4 per cent to close at 5,056.
European markets closed mixed: London’s FTSE added 0.4 per cent, Paris lost 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt slipped 1.2 per cent.
Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei lifted 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.4 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite advanced 0.4 per cent.
The Australian share market closed flat yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 7 points up to finish at 5,845. On the futures market the SPI is 31 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:30AM was buying 77.83 US Scents, 51.68 Pence Sterling, 93.03 Yen and 71.91 Euro cents.
Company news
Evolution Mining Limited (ASX:EVN) will pay De Grey Mining Limited (ASX:DEG) $370,000 for a 100 per cent interest in the PuhiPuhi Project. De Grey paid $1 million for the project located on the North Island of New Zealand back in 2012. De Grey plans to use the funds to map its Turner River Base Metals project. Shares in Evolution Mining last traded 2.53 per cent lower at $0.965.
Insurance Australia Group Limited (ASX:IAG) say they have received over 10,000 claims for damage in regards to this week’s storms in NSW. The majority of the claims relate to property damage caused by heavy rain and high winds. The insurer has placed extra staff in its call centres and allocated around 7,000 job to builders so far. IAG says it’s stil far to estimate the cost of the event. Shares in IAG last traded 0.51 per cent stronger at $5.90.
Commodities
Gold has improved $7.40 to $US1,194 an ounce for the June contract on Comex. Silver is up 3 cents to $15.83 for May. Copper has gained 3 cents to $2.70 a pound. Oil has lifted $1.58 to US$57.74 a barrel for May light crude in New York.
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