Sydney, Aug 27, 2007 (ABN Newswire) -
Australian shares could rise this morning following a positive lead from the US. Resource firms could post gains on firmer oil and metal prices.
On Friday the S&P/ASX200 ended a four session winning streak dropping 71 points and finishing at 6,089. On the futures market the SPI200 is up 97.
Turning to currencies, At 8:30 AM the Aussie dollar is buying 82.92 US cents, on the crosses the dollar is buying 96.74 yen, 60.67 Euro cents, and 41.17 British pence.
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http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/5LEI4J53Making news headlines this morning, shares in Coates Hire were down 1.1% to $5.40. Coates Hire is considering a $1.5 billion-plus joint bid from private equity firm Carlyle Group and National Hire. Coates opened its books to potential suitors last month. The Australian Financial Review says the country's biggest equipment hire company won't announce its decision on the offer until its annual results on Wednesday. Coates may also decide to proceed with its own internal restructuring. Coates Hire earnings have been rising since 2002.
BHP Billiton finished up on Friday?shares lost 2.92% to $36.60. The global miner told the ABC's Inside Business yesterday that its big expansion plans are in Australia. The company's designate chief executive said the company would "become slightly more Australian" as it develops its project pipeline. BHP Billiton has pushed its capital development program to about $5 billion over the past couple of years, with that expected to hit $8 billion the year after next. BHP Billiton earnings have been hitting record highs since 2002.
The S&P/ASX top 200 companies trading ex-dividend today are Bendigo Bank with a 34 cent 100 per cent franked dividend to be paid on the 28th of September, Boom Logistics with a 5 cent fully franked dividend to be paid on the 21st of September, Perpetual Trustees Australia with a 187 cent fully franked dividend to be paid on the 14th of September and Qantas Airways with a 15 cent fully franked dividend to be paid on the 26th of September.
To international markets, US markets rose after some surprisingly strong housing data; The Dow Jones Industrials rose 143, the S&P500 was up 17 points, and the Nasdaq gained 35.
European markets were mixed; London's FTSE was up 23 points; Paris added 46, but Frankfurt ended 5 points weaker
Meanwhile Asian stocks were also mixed; Hong Kong's Hang Sang was down 45 points; while Tokyo's Nikkei was down 67, and China's SSE Composite improved 75.
Back to the US, gold jumped to a 10 day high in New York on Friday, helped by higher stocks and options-related buying and as the dollar fell sharply against major currencies. Gold rose $9.10 cents to $677.50 US an ounce for the spot contract on Comex, Silver added 30 cents to $12.10 and copper was up 7 cents and is trading at $3.35.
And finally, oil added $1.26 cents to $71.09 for October light crude in New York.
Source: Finance News Network © 2007
http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au
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