Sydney, Oct 25, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares could open on slightly firmer ground after US markets clawed back sharp early losses to end a little down; still though, the mood will likely remain jittery after Merrill Lynch posted its biggest quarterly loss in history. A surge in oil prices could underpin energy firms here at home.

The S&P/ASX200 finished 27 points weaker to 6,634 yesterday after rising more than one per cent earlier in the session. On the futures market the SPI200 is up 32.

Turning to currencies, the Australian dollar pushed back above 90 cents overnight as the US dollar was undermined by talk of rate cuts. At 8:40 AM the Aussie dollar was buying 90.36 US cents, on the crosses the dollar was buying 103.11 yen, 63.36 Euro cents, and 44.08 British pence.

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

Video Link

http://abnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/48EWT9HO


Audio Link

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/7AR26GJ2


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

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