MELBOURNE, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to edge lower on Monday, following a slide on Wall Street on continued fears of a deep recession, though potential gains for top miner BHP Billiton could lend support.
December share index futures ended down 1 percent at 3,840.0, a 29.4 point discount to the 3,869.4 close in the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index on Friday.
U.S. stocks slumped on Friday to 5 1/2-year lows in a worldwide sell-off, with investors dumping stocks as signs mounted that the global economic slowdown could be deeper than feared and the corporate profit outlook darkened.
Despite the rout, and a plunge in copper prices to their lowest level since September 2005, BHP Billiton will probably open about 3 percent higher, based on the close of its New York-traded shares.
Investors will be looking out for an announcement from Queensland Gas Co and AGL Energy after their shares went on trading halts on Friday.
Newspapers reported Britain's BG Group, which failed in a bid for Origin Energy earlier this year, was set to bid around A$5.45 a share for QGC, which would be a 70 percent premium to QGC's last trade.
The New Zealand market is closed for a public holiday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2140 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 876.77 -3.45% -31.340 USD/JPY 92.36 -3.81% -3.730
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.6781 -
0.000 SPOT GOLD 732.4 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 64.6 -4.78% -3.240 DOW JONES 8378.95 -3.59% -312.30 ASIA ADRS 85.39 -7.17% -6.60
* Ugly October can't end soon enough
* Oil falls $4 as OPEC cut fails to halt slide
* Gold ends up, snaps down streak on safe haven bids
* Copper dives to 3-yr low as recession threat grows[MET/L]
For a summary of business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on.
($1=A$1.62)
(Reporting by Sonali Paul) . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
December share index futures ended down 1 percent at 3,840.0, a 29.4 point discount to the 3,869.4 close in the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index on Friday.
U.S. stocks slumped on Friday to 5 1/2-year lows in a worldwide sell-off, with investors dumping stocks as signs mounted that the global economic slowdown could be deeper than feared and the corporate profit outlook darkened.
Despite the rout, and a plunge in copper prices to their lowest level since September 2005, BHP Billiton will probably open about 3 percent higher, based on the close of its New York-traded shares.
Investors will be looking out for an announcement from Queensland Gas Co and AGL Energy after their shares went on trading halts on Friday.
Newspapers reported Britain's BG Group, which failed in a bid for Origin Energy earlier this year, was set to bid around A$5.45 a share for QGC, which would be a 70 percent premium to QGC's last trade.
The New Zealand market is closed for a public holiday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2140 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 876.77 -3.45% -31.340 USD/JPY 92.36 -3.81% -3.730
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.6781 -
0.000 SPOT GOLD 732.4 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 64.6 -4.78% -3.240 DOW JONES 8378.95 -3.59% -312.30 ASIA ADRS 85.39 -7.17% -6.60
* Ugly October can't end soon enough
* Oil falls $4 as OPEC cut fails to halt slide
* Gold ends up, snaps down streak on safe haven bids
* Copper dives to 3-yr low as recession threat grows[MET/L]
For a summary of business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on.
($1=A$1.62)
(Reporting by Sonali Paul) . ng COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.