Sydney, Oct 10, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares could hit record highs once again today, buoyed by a record finish on Wall Street, with firmer base metal and oil prices expected to underpin the market.

On Tuesday the S&P/ASX200 rose 24 points to settle on 6,678, a fresh all-time closing high; on the future's market the SPI200 is up 51.

Turning to currencies, the Australian dollar resumed its upward trend, moving close to its 23-year high after the US dollar eased; at 8:45AM the dollar is buying 89.93 US cents, on the crosses it's buying 105.4 yen, 63.78 Euro cents, and 44.15 British pence.

The full report is available at the following video and audio links.

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/UP0W6I58


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/076G55PO


Making headlines this morning is news that Transfield Services has bought New Zealand-based McBreen Jenkins Construction. Transfield shares were down 1.54% to $14.03 on the ASX yesterday. The $20.5 million deal is part of Transfield's plan to secure more road infrastructure work across the Tasman, building on its other recent acquisitions in New Zealand which total about $40 million dollars. Transfield's chief exec expects annualized revenue from the acquisitions to surpass $100 million dollars, according to an Australian Associated Press report. The deal is subject to the approval of New Zealand's overseas investment office, expected by the end of the year. Transfield Services saw earnings double in 2007 over the previous year because of new contracts at home and overseas, as well as a one-off gain.

Shares in Leighton Holdings were up 1.07% to $56.80. The engineering giant has received regulatory approval to increase its stake in Macmahon Holdings. Leighton currently holds close to a 15 per cent interest in the smaller mining and construction group. Macmahon's chairman rejected an earlier Leighton proposal to acquire a significant stake in the company.. Leighton Holdings' earnings have been on an upswing since 2004.

And briefly, Leighton Holdings and United Group are being named as possible suitors for defence and technology systems group Tenix in a proposed $1 billion auction of the private company. The S&P/ASX top 200 company trading ex-dividend today is David Jones with a 13 cent fully franked dividend to be paid on the 8th of November.

To international markets, US markets hit record heights on news the Federal Reserve is willing to cut interest rates again; the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 121 points, the S&P added 13 points and the Nasdaq composite was up 17.

European shares moved into positive territory lead by heavyweight oil stocks. London's FTSE was up 75; Paris lifted 33, and Frankfurt closed 6 points firmer.

To Asia, where Hong Kong's Hang Sang surged 458; Tokyo's Nikkei gained 95; and China's SSE Composite advanced 23.

Back to the US, gold futures finished higher helped by the weaker dollar and stronger crude oil; gold gained $4.40 to $743.10 US an ounce for the spot contract on Comex, Silver rallied 22 cents to $13.58, copper was steady at $3.62.

And finally, oil added $1.24 to $80.26 a barrel for November light crude in New York.

Source: Finance News Network © 2007 http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au

About Finance News Network

Finance News Network (FNN) has been producing up-to-date concise business and finance news tailored to traders and investors alike since 2002. FNN content reaches a diverse and constantly growing audience via online streaming video, Street Vision broadcasts and the Telstra 3G mobile phone network.
http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au