Good morning and welcome to the ASX at Breakfast. I’m Rachael Jones reporting live from Kalkine
TV Sydney studio.
(1)Australian shares are expected to rise this morning, tacking strong cues from Wall
Street. The gains made by tech shares such as Apple, Amazon and Microsoft boosted major
US stock indices which ended higher in the overnight trade. However, domestic mining
shares may weigh on the ASX 200 amid concerns from China's property sector.
According to the latest ASX Futures, the ASX 200 is likely to open 32 points or 0.5%
higher. On Wednesday, the benchmark index declined 0.3% to 6,975.9 points.
(1) Southern Cross Electrical Engineering has agreed a full and final settlement of
its dispute with Decmil Group regarding the subcontract between them for works at Rio
Tinto’s Amrun mine project in Queensland. The settlement is in line with Southern Cross
Electrical Engineering accounting position and the ongoing arbitration proceedings concerning
this dispute will be terminated. The remaining terms of the settlement are strictly confidential
and SCEE does not intend to make further comment on the matter.
(1) Explosives company Orica has successfully completed a A$650 million fully underwritten
placement (Placement) of approximately 40.6 million new fully paid ordinary shares to
institutional investors at a price of $16.00 per New Share. The proceeds of the Placement
will in part be used to fund the strategic acquisition of Axis which represents a highly
strategic acquisition and a valuable addition to Orica’s Digital Solutions platform, positioning
it to become the industry’s first integrated, end-to-end, mine to mill solutions provider.
Orica Managing Director and CEO Sanjeev Gandhi said: “We are excited by the market’s
support for Orica’s strategic growth.
(1) Corpus Christi Polymers has awarded Worley construction management and general services
contracts. The scope of the construction management contract includes Corpus Christi’s new polyethylene
terephthalate and purified terephthalic acid facilities in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
The contracts will be executed by Worley’s field services team based in Houston.
Now it’s time for a short break – but stay tuned for more news set to effect
the trading day. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Welcome back to the ASX at breakfast report. Now looking at the global markets.
On Wall Street, strong US economic data, positive corporate guidance and softening
geopolitical concerns, helped
(1) The Dow Jones rise 1.3%, the S&P 500 gain 1.6%, and the NASDAQ end 2.6% higher. The
latest economic data revealed unexpected rise in services activity and a robust surge in
factory orders. In other major development, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy
Pelosi's completed her brief visit to Taiwan.
In Europe, the Stoxx 50 rose 1.3%, the FTSE gained 0.5%, the CAC surged 1%, and the DAX
ended 1% higher. Emerging market stocks surged 0.28%. On the other hand, MSCI's broadest
index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ended 0.27% higher. Oil prices declined
on Wednesday on surprise increase in US crude and gasoline inventories. (1) WTI crude
fell 3.98% to settle at US$90.66 per barrel. Brent crude finished at US$96.78 per barrel, down
3.74%. Gold prices fell on Thursday on account of rebound by the US dollar and Treasury yields.
(1) US gold futures fell 0.7% to US$1,776.4.
Well, that’s all for our Morning Outlook report here on Kalkine TV. Have a great day
trading and stay tuned for more market updates and economic news live throughout the day.
This is Rachael Jones signing off for now.