Australian Stock Market Report – Morning November 25, 2014

Traders work by the post that trades Baker Hughes on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange November 17, 2014. Halliburton Co said on Monday it will buy Baker Hughes Inc for about $35 billion in cash and stock, creating an oilfield services behemoth to take on market leader Schlumberger NV as customers curb spending on falling oil prices. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY)

* In US economic data the national activity index eased from +0.29 to +0.14 in October. The Markit services "flash" index eased from 57.1 to 56.3 in November. And the Dallas Federal Reserve index was steady at +10.5 in November.

* European shares were mixed on Monday. The influential German Ifo business sentiment index rose from 103.2 to 104.7 in November. But there were doubts about any forthcoming stimulus by the European Central Bank with the German Bundesbank President saying measures could face "legal limits". The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.1%, the Euro STOXX 50 gained 0.6% and the German Dax lifted 0.5%. But the UK FTSE fell by 0.3%, dragged down by the resources sector. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton fell by 2.5% while Rio Tinto lost 2.2%.

* US sharemarkets generally traded in tight ranges on Monday with tech stocks leading the gains. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones was up by almost 8 points or less than 0.1% after trading in a 62 point range. The S&P 500 index was up by 0.3% and the Nasdaq gained 42 points or 0.9%.

* US treasuries rose modestly on Monday (yields lower). Traders assessed the ability of the European Central Bank to provide more stimulus as well dissecting softer US economic data. US Treasury sold $28 billion in two-year notes and will sell $13 billion in two-year floating rate notes, $35 billion in five-year notes and $29 billion in seven-year notes this week. US 2 year yields fell by 2 points to 0.497% while US 10 year yields fell by 1 point to 2.301%.

* Major currencies were again mixed against the greenback in the European and US sessions on Monday. The Euro lifted from lows near US$1.2375 to highs near US$1.2445, and was around US$1.2435 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US86.85c to around US86.00c, and was near US86.10c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from 117.80 yen per US dollar to JPY118.48 and was near JPY118.27 in late US trade.

* World oil prices eased modestly in thin trade on Monday as traders positioned ahead of Thursday's meeting by OPEC nations to set production quotas. Brent crude fell by US68c or 0.8% to US$79.68 a barrel while the US Nymex crude price fell by US73c or 1.0% to US$75.78 a barrel.

* Base metal prices were generally lower up to 0.8% on the London Metal Exchange on Monday with tin and copper leading the declines. But aluminium and nickel edged up 0.1%. Gold fell slightly with Comex gold futures down by US$2.00 an ounce or 0.2% to US$1,195.70 per ounce. Iron ore rose by US20c to US$70.00 a tonne on Monday.

Ahead: In Australia, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Philip Lowe delivers a speech. Medibank Private lists on the sharemarket. In the US, preliminary economic growth (GDP) data is released with monthly home prices, consumer confidence, weekly chain store sales and Richmond and Dallas Federal Reserve indexes.

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