SYDNEY, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares are expected to open the new year firmer on Tuesday after Wall Street rallied and copper price hit a fresh record high, boding well for resource stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 2010 at 4,754.24, having failed for the last two months of the year to hold above resistance of 4,800.
Trade is expected to be thin with many investors and traders on holidays.
However, mergers and acquisitions are expected to remain a major theme after global miner BHP Billiton fell 1.3 percent last Friday on fresh talk it was lining up a bid for U.S. Energy firm Anadarko.
Africa-focused miner Riversdale is also on investors' radar as it waits to hear from its major shareholders whether they will back a $3.9 bilion bid from Rio Tinto.
Coal miners have also been hurting from flooding which has disrupted mining operations in Australia's Queensland state.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 25.237 points to 3309.03 in early trade.
Wall Street rallied on Monday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2208 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1271.89 1.13% 14.250 USD/JPY 81.74 0.02% 0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3362 -- 0.049 SPOT GOLD 1414 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 91.54 0.18% 0.160 DOW JONES 11670.75 0.81% 93.24 ASIA ADRS 143.92 1.19% 1.69 -------------------------------------------------------------
* Wall Street climbs in first session of 2011
* Oil up at 27-month peak on economic data, cold
* Gold eases from 1-month high on positive US outlook
* US copper extends record run into 2011
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on
((Australia/New Zealand bureaux; +61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234))
DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Australia diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets ................................................................ TOP NEWS SUMMARIES ON OTHER SUBJECTS | U.S. Companies | European Companies | | Forex | Global Economy | | Tech.Media,Telecoms | Banking, Financials | | Politics & General | Sports | ................................................................ MAJOR STOCK MARKET REPORTS New York Weekly outlook New York Pan-Europe Weekly outlook Europe London Weekly outlook London Tokyo ................................................................ ASIA STOCK MARKETS Pan-Asia...................... Bangkok...... Karachi........ S/east Asia. Bombay....... Kuala Lumpur... Sydney/NZ... China........ Seoul.......... Taipei...... Hong Kong.... Singapore...... Tokyo........ ................................................................ Access to some items may depend on subscription level. ................................................................ UP-TO-THE-MINUTE HEADLINES Company results Economic indicators Mergers & acquisitions Interest rates LIVE PRICES & DATA World Stocks Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt HOW TO FIND INFORMATION YOU NEED | | | | | || | | | LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt Australian dollar LME price overview Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA STOCKS (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News, please visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 2010 at 4,754.24, having failed for the last two months of the year to hold above resistance of 4,800.
Trade is expected to be thin with many investors and traders on holidays.
However, mergers and acquisitions are expected to remain a major theme after global miner BHP Billiton fell 1.3 percent last Friday on fresh talk it was lining up a bid for U.S. Energy firm Anadarko.
Africa-focused miner Riversdale is also on investors' radar as it waits to hear from its major shareholders whether they will back a $3.9 bilion bid from Rio Tinto.
Coal miners have also been hurting from flooding which has disrupted mining operations in Australia's Queensland state.
New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 25.237 points to 3309.03 in early trade.
Wall Street rallied on Monday as encouraging signs about the outlook for manufacturing around the world prompted investors to inject new money into the market.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2208 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1271.89 1.13% 14.250 USD/JPY 81.74 0.02% 0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3362 -- 0.049 SPOT GOLD 1414 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 91.54 0.18% 0.160 DOW JONES 11670.75 0.81% 93.24 ASIA ADRS 143.92 1.19% 1.69 -------------------------------------------------------------
* Wall Street climbs in first session of 2011
* Oil up at 27-month peak on economic data, cold
* Gold eases from 1-month high on positive US outlook
* US copper extends record run into 2011
For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on
((Australia/New Zealand bureaux; +61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234))
DIARIES & DATA: IPO diary & data Asia earnings diary U.S. earnings diary European diary Australia diary Wall Street Week Ahead Eurostocks Week Ahead ................................................................ For latest top breaking news across all markets ................................................................ TOP NEWS SUMMARIES ON OTHER SUBJECTS | U.S. Companies | European Companies | | Forex | Global Economy | | Tech.Media,Telecoms | Banking, Financials | | Politics & General | Sports | ................................................................ MAJOR STOCK MARKET REPORTS New York Weekly outlook New York Pan-Europe Weekly outlook Europe London Weekly outlook London Tokyo ................................................................ ASIA STOCK MARKETS Pan-Asia...................... Bangkok...... Karachi........ S/east Asia. Bombay....... Kuala Lumpur... Sydney/NZ... China........ Seoul.......... Taipei...... Hong Kong.... Singapore...... Tokyo........ ................................................................ Access to some items may depend on subscription level. ................................................................ UP-TO-THE-MINUTE HEADLINES Company results Economic indicators Mergers & acquisitions Interest rates LIVE PRICES & DATA World Stocks Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt HOW TO FIND INFORMATION YOU NEED | | | | | || | | | LIVE PRICES & DATA: World Stocks Currency rates Dow Jones/NASDAQ Nikkei FTSE 100 Debt Australian dollar LME price overview Keywords: MARKETS AUSTRALIA STOCKS (Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit http://topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 For more information on Top News, please visit http://topnews.reuters.com) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.