Australian Stock Market Leads - 02/15/2012
The Australian stock market on Wednesday will try to put away the lacklustre sentiment generated by the U.S. and European indices overnight with a focus on a few earnings reports due to be released today.
Reports from one of Australia's biggest banks, the Commonwealth Bank, is due and preliminary data indicating a cash earnings increase will likely beat expectations.
"Commonwealth Bank. The bank's cash earnings rose 7% to $3.576 billion, beating expectations of $3.526 billion. However, its dividend was a slight miss coming in at $1.37 (+0.4%) versus forecasts of $1.41. CBA's results will likely dictate trading in the financial space today," IG Markets analyst Stan Shamu notes.
Australian mining companies led by Fortescue (ASX: FMG) and OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL) are also set to report their end-year results, with FMG's solid earnings most likely to track well with its production.
Aside from these three ASX-listed firms, the others due to report on Wednesday are Dexus, Noni B, Dominos, Kagara, Primary Healtcare, and Westfield.
The Aussie market is in for another soft trading with an early morning dip of three points at 4239, IG Markets estimates.
OptionsXpress analyst Ben Le Brun cites that "for the rest of the week the market may see some reaction to the preliminary GDP numbers in the Euro zone tonight, especially if they come outside of expectations."
On the economic front, Westpac consumer sentiment and new motor vehicle sales data are also due today, however, analysts perceive this as a side show as the situation in Greece will still be a turning point in markets today.