Australian Stock Market Report – Morning September 22, 2014

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the market's opening in New York July 28, 2014. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

* In US economic data, the leading index rose by 0.2% in August, short of forecasts tipping a 0.4% gain. The weekly Economic Cycle Research Institute index was up 2.1% on a year ago, up from 1.7% in the previous week.

* European shares rose on Friday after Scotland voted against independence. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.3%, touching six-year highs in the session. The German Dax rose by less than 0.1% while the UK FTSE rose by 0.3%. But Australia's major miners were lower in London trade with shares in BHP Billiton down by 1.3% while Rio Tinto lost 1.6%.

* US sharemarkets were mixed on Friday. Shares in Alibaba soared by 38% on the IPO price to US$93.89 a share. But shares in Oracle fell by 4.2% while Yahoo lost 2.7%. The Dow Jones index rose by almost 14 points or 0.1%. The broader S&P 500 index fell by 0.1% while the Nasdaq lost almost 14 points or 0.3%. Over the week the Dow Jones rose by 1.7%, the S&P 500 gained 1.3% while the Nasdaq edged higher by 0.3%.

* US long-term treasury prices rose on Friday (yields lower) as bargain hunters moved in, with investors analysing the timing of future moves to tighten monetary policy. US 2 year yields were flat at 0.569% while US 10 year yields were down by 4 points to 2.578%. Over the week US 2 year yields rose by 1.3 points while US 10 year yields fell by 2.5 points.

* Major currencies were generally lower against the greenback over the European and US sessions on Friday. The US dollar index rose for the 10th straight week. The Euro fell from near US$1.2910 to around US$1.2930, ending US trade near the day's lows. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US89.95c to lows around US89.20c before ending the US session near US89.25c. And the Japanese yen held between 108.57 yen per US dollar and JPY109.24, ending US trade near JPY109.01.

* World oil prices were mixed on Friday. Plentiful world oil supplies of crude and upcoming contract expiry weighed on the Nymex crude price. But talk of a cut-back of oil production by OPEC members supported Brent crude. On Friday Brent crude rose by US69c or 0.7% to US$98.39 a barrel with the US Nymex price down by US66c a barrel or 0.7% to US$92.41 a barrel. Over the week Brent rose by US$1.28 or 1.3% with the Nymex price up by US14c or 0.2%.

* Base metal prices were mixed on Friday with gains and losses not exceeding 0.7%. Over the week metal prices fell up to 3.4%, led by nickel. But copper bucked the trend, up 0.3%. Gold prices fell to a nine-month low on Friday with the Comex gold futures quote lower by US$7.80 an ounce or 0.6% to US$1,219.10 per ounce. Over the week gold fell by US$12.10 an ounce or 1.0%. Iron ore fell by US$1.30 or 1.6% on Friday to US$81.70 a tonne. Over the week iron ore fell by US30c a tonne.

Ahead: In Australia, the CBA Business Sales index is released. In the US, data on existing home sales is released with the National Activity Index.

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