Australian Stock Market Report – Morning November 26, 2014

Global Stock Market Indices — A pedestrian, holding his mobile phone, walks past an electronic board showing the stock market indices of various countries outside a brokerage in Tokyo August 6, 2014. Reuters/Yuya Shino

Latest news

* In US economic data the consumer confidence index fell from 94.1 to 88.7 in November, well short of forecasts centred on a reading near 96.0. The Case Shiller home price index rose by 0.3% in September to be up 4.9% over the year. The US economy grew at a 3.9% annual pace in the September quarter, up from the 3.3% consensus forecast.

* US regional surveys were mixed: the Richmond Federal Reserve index eased from +20 to +4 in November but the Dallas Fed services index rose from +14.0 to +25.4.

* European shares rose on Tuesday but gains in bank stocks were offset by weakness in resources. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.2%, the German Dax lifted by 0.8% while the UK FTSE edged 1.4 points higher or less than 0.1%. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton fell by 1.7% while Rio Tinto gained 0.3%.

* US sharemarkets generally traded in tight ranges again on Tuesday. With just over an hour of trade to go, the Dow Jones was up by 10 points or 0.1% after trading in a 64 point range. The S&P 500 index was down by 0.1% and the Nasdaq gained 1 point or less than 0.1%.

* US long-term treasuries rose on Tuesday (yields lower), assisted by strong demand for 5-year notes. US Treasury sold $35 billion in five-year notes and $13 billion in two-year floating rate notes. And strong GDP data was balance by weaker consumer confidence figures. Treasury will sell $29 billion in seven-year notes on Wednesday. US 2 year yields rose by 2 points to 0.524% while US 10 year yields fell by 5 points to 2.266%.

* Major currencies were again mixed against the greenback in the European and US sessions on Monday. The Euro lifted from lows near US$1.2400 to highs near US$1.2485, and was around US$1.2470 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US86.05c to around US85.15c, and was near US85.20c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen held between 117.70 yen per US dollar and JPY118.27 and was near JPY117.90 in late US trade.

* World oil prices eased on Tuesday as traders anticipated little change in production quotas from Thursday's meeting of OPEC oil nations. Brent crude fell by US$1.35 or 1.7% to US$78.33 a barrel while the US Nymex crude price fell by US$1.69 or 2.2% to US$74.09 a barrel.

* Base metal prices were lower by up to 1.1% on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday with copper and tin leading the declines. But aluminium edged up 0.5%. Gold rose slightly with Comex gold futures down by US$1.40 an ounce or 0.1% to US$1,197.10 per ounce. Iron ore fell by US$1.40 to US$68.60 a tonne on Tuesday.

Ahead: In Australia, construction work done data is released while BREE releases data on resources and energy projects. In the US, durable goods orders, jobless claims, personal income, pending home sales, consumer sentiment and the Chicago purchasing managers index are released.

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