The Australian Dollar has risen for the 10th straight day and reached new highs overnight as commodities continue to rise and retail sales rose more than expected.
US initial jobless claims fell by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 388,000 last week.
Despite the flood of bad news in the quarter, it has turned out rather well as investors, especially in the US and Europe rediscovered risk and the joys of cheap money.Overseas the euro crisis hasn't gone away (and returned in strength with Portugal close to the brink of a bailout and Ireland needing billions of euros from its bailout package to help staunch the bleeding from some of its badl...
More all time highs this week for the Australian dollar against the US currency.According to the AMP's chief economist and strategist, Dr Shane Oliver, we are going to have to live with a strong currency for some time to come.He makes the very pertinent point:"The strong Australian dollar will likely cause more pain for internationally focused Australian companies that don't have a natur...
Resource giant BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) approved on Thursday its Escondida Ore Access project (EOA), the first of a number of development options that will underline Escondida’s status as the world’s premier copper operation.
By Greg PeelIn mid-March I published a story entitled A Positive Solution For Woodside in which I outlined analysis from BA-Merrill Lynch suggesting the troubled oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum ((WPL)) might be best served by offering to swap asset stakes for the remaining Shell shareholding. Shell owns 24% of Woodside and has indicated its intention to divest, having already reduced its h...
The Australian dollar advanced further again overnight to record a new post-float high of USD1.0338.
- Homebuyer confidence dipped 1.5% in the six months to March- Take out Queensland, and it rose 0.8%- Cost of living concerns are now outweighing interest rate concerns By Greg PeelGenworth Financial, Australia's leading mortgage insurer, published six months ago the first edition of its Homebuyer Confidence Index in association with strategic research house RFi. Yesterday it launched at a media g...
By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 71 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1328 and the Nasdaq added 0.7%.Last night saw the release of the ADP private sector employment report in the US for March, and at 201,000 jobs added the result largely matched economist expectations. The important point, however, is that for the past four months ADP job additions have averaged 211,000 compared to the prev...
Prospects that global growth will spur demand for commodities has seen the Australian Dollar rise to its strongest level since it was freely floated in 1983.
The US ADP employment report was in line with forecasts with employers adding 201,000 private sector jobs in March.
Goldman Sachs said yesterday about the Qantas announcement:Today's announcement provides some clarity on the potential earnings impact of earthquakes in Japan New Zealand While there was no specific mention of ongoing weakness in the domestic leisure market, comments by VBA last week suggest that this remains an issue.Domestic capacity growth reductions announced by QAN are likely to be parti...
Qantas (ASX: QAN), Australia's national carrier, says it is decreasing staffs and flights in response to high oil and jet fuel prices and the impact of significant natural disasters in Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
- Libya remains the immediate focus of the oil market- Tensions in Bahrain may prove more significant - Ongoing regional issues to sustain high oil market volatility By Chris ShawFor the global oil market the immediate focus remains Libya, with Barclays Capital taking the view a protracted civil war is now under way. This view is at odds with growing market optimism the success of Libyan rebels i...
Business to business lending fell in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, according to an analysis of trade credit trends by Dun & Bradstreet. The study also found that deteriorating terms make executives nervous about extending credit to their customers. The trend is likely to act as a drag on Australia's economic performance and present as a considerable headwind for the global recovery.
- Telstra has updated investors on its Sensis strategy- Focus is on new revenue streams in SME market- Competition and high cost base remain issues By Chris ShawSensis, the advertising and directories arm of Telstra ((TLS)), represents about 9% of group revenues and 17% of earnings before interest and tax. This makes the division an important part of Telstra's overall business. The division briefe...
The Australian Dollar has opened firmer this morning and is trading just south of USD 1.0300, having found continued support from solid equity markets and a healthy risk appetite in the financial markets. Speculation of M&A activity in Australia and solid demand out of China for the currency continue.
The Australian dollar appears well and truly consolidated above 1.0200 for the time being as support held strong overnight. A subdued Asian session saw little response as New Home Sales growth slowed to 0.6% in Feb with the dollar remaining above 1.0230 for the most part.
Energy and telecommunications companies led gains for U.S. stocks as investors looked to push the market higher for the seventh session in nine, ahead of critical data later this week on unemployment and manufacturing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 84 points, or 0.7%, to 12281 in late trading, while the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained eight points to 1319.
By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 81 points or 0.7% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1319 and the Nasdaq added 1.0%.Wall Street seems currently determined to re-take the previous February high – now just over 100 Dow points away – as concerns over the triple threats of MENA, Japan and Europe fade into complacency.The battle continues to rage in Libya, with fortunes seemingly swinging back and forwa...
Mig Bank, the first Forex broker to have obtained a Swiss banking license in December 2009, has been granted the Securities Dealer License by the FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Regulatory Authority.
Leading mobile affiliate network MobPartner just closed a $3.5 million first round from Alven Capital and Newfund. This funding will enable MobPartner to accelerate its international growth.
Leighton Holding Ltd (ASX: LEI) subsidiary Thiess has won a $166 million contract to provide bulk earth works and selected infrastructure for BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s Jimblebar mine near Newman in Western Australia.
Global miner Rio Tinto is negotiating with one of two major shareholders in Riversdale Mining to try and save its near $4 billion offer to secure a majority stake in the Africa-focused miner.Rio Tinto had launched a $3.9 billion, sweetened takeover bid for Riversdale, conditional on at least 50% acceptances, but has so far secured only about 41%.Rio Tinto's lawyer said in a letter released to...
U.S. stocks gave up modest gains to turn lower in the final minutes of Monday's trading session, as financials and materials sectors joined consumer and tech stocks in the red. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 5.6 points, or 0.1%, at 12,214. The S&P 500 was down 2 points at 1,312.
By Greg PeelLast week's Uranium Report had the weekly spot uranium price indicator determined by industry consultant TradeTech falling from US$67.75 to US$53.00/lb in the previous week's trade. The Monday of that week experienced the first market response to the Japanese earthquake and nuclear disaster.Uranium initially changed hands as low as US$50/lb, TradeTech noted, but prices this low brought...
Australia’s farmer-owned dairy company - Murray Goulburn today advised the co-operative’s dairy farmer - shareholders of a further increase in the farmgate milk price.
Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today released the findings from its 2011 Mutual Fund Stewardship Grade research study, which evaluated more than 1,000 funds from more than 40 fund families on how well each fund treats its fund shareholders' capital.
Emerging East Asia's local currency bond markets lifted by 13.6 per cent to $5.2 trillion in 2010, propelled by strong growth in corporate bonds that helped to offset a decrease in issuance by central banks and some governments in the last quarter of 2010.
By Greg PeelThe words “collateralised debt obligation” are enough to send a shiver down the spine of anyone impacted by, or able to simply appreciate, the recent Global Financial Crisis and its origins. The butterfly which caused the storm was the trickle of defaults in the US of subprime CDOs, a form of mortgage security.That storm finally resulted in the fall of Lehman Bros and the n...
