Australian Stock Market Report – Morning December 5, 2014

A job promoter sits close to list of job offers posted along a main street in downtown Sao Paulo November 19, 2014. Brazil's unemployment rate fell unexpectedly in October despite widening layoffs in manufacturing and construction, in welcome news for President Dilma Rousseff's plan to shore up public finances without painful economic adjustments. Brazil's non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 4.7 percent in October from 4.9 percent in September, statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker (BRAZIL - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY)

* In economic data, jobless claims fell by 17,000 to 297,000 last week. The 4-week moving average - a better gauge of underlying trends - rose to 299,000, the highest in 10 weeks.

* The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at record lows. The ECB did cut economic growth forecasts for 2015, down from 1.6% to 1.0%. And at the news conference ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank would reassess the impact of its monetary policy stimulus early next year and take further action if necessary. The ECB will continue to monitor "the broader impact of recent oil price developments on medium-term inflation trends in the euro area" and "address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation".

* European shares fell on Thursday after the ECB stuck to its line that it will decide early next year whether further measures are needed to boost the euro zone economy, sparking profit-taking. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 1.4% and the German Dax fell by 1.2%. But the UK FTSE eased by 0.6%. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton fell by 1.2% while Rio Tinto fell 2.6%.

* US sharemarkets were mixed in choppy trade on Thursday Investors waited on the non-farm payrolls (employment data) scheduled for release on Friday. The slide in the oil price hurt energy stocks with the sector down 0.5%. At the close, the Dow Jones was down by 13 points or 0.1% with the S&P 500 index down by 0.1% while the Nasdaq was down 5 points or 0.1%.

* US treasuries rose on Thursday (yields lower) after the ECB said policymakers will decide on further stimulus next year. US 2 year yields fell by 2 point to 0.545% while US 10 year yields fell by 4 points to 2.239%.

* Major currencies were mixed against the greenback in European and US trade on Thursday. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.2305 to highs around US$1.2455 and was around US$1.2385 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar rose from lows near US83.55c to around US84.15c and was around US83.85c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen traded between 120.20 yen per US dollar to JPY119.40 and was near JPY119.75 in late US trade.

* World oil prices fell in choppy trading on Thursday as the debate for a sustainable price level continued after Saudi Arabia announced deep price cuts for crude it sells to Asian and US buyers in an apparent attempt to defend its market share. Brent crude fell by US28c or 0.4% to US$69.64 a barrel. The US Nymex crude price fell by US57c or 0.8% to US$66.81 a barrel.

* Base metal prices were mostly higher on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday. Nickel rose 3.2%, with copper (up 1.6%), and aluminium (up 1.4%) also recording solid gains. The exception was tin which fell 0.3%. Gold fell on Thursday with Comex gold futures down by US$1 an ounce or 0.1% to $1,207.70 per ounce. Iron ore rose by US$1.60 to US$71.10 a tonne on Thursday.

Ahead: In Australia, no economic data is released. In the US, nonfarm payrolls, factory orders, consumer credit and trade data are all slated for release.

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