MELBOURNE, Jan 31 - Australian shares may start the week weaker after political unrest in Egypt pressured global markets, although local resource and energy stocks may benefit from higher gold, metal and oil prices.
* Australian share index futures fell 49 points or 1 percent to 4,708, a discount of 66.9 points to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close on Friday of 4774.88, which was a loss of 0.7 percent on the day.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.4 percent to 3,340.5 in early trade.
* On Wall Street, stocks suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months on Friday as anti-government rioting in Egypt prompted investors to flee to less risky assets to ride out the turmoil.
* Still, Australian precious metal miners may be in favour after gold posted its biggest gains in eight weeks on Friday, up nearly 2 percent as the prospect of unrest in Egypt spreading across the Middle East fueled a rush of safe-haven buying.
* Copper prices closed 1.5 percent away from their record high on Friday, after data showing the U.S. economic expansion picked up in the fourth quarter reaffirmed robust global demand prospects for the industrial metal.
* BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will be in focus after The Sunday Telegraph said investors wrote to the pair to say the miners should ditch ambitions for mega deals in favour of multi-billion pound share buyback schemes. See .
* New Zealand building supplies firm Fletcher Building Ltd fell 0.8 percent after it sweetened its bid for Australia's Crane Group by about A$44 million on Monday, winning the support of the board. The new offer implies A$9.54 to A$10.07 a share. See.
* Wesfarmers, a retail-to-coal conglomerate, said total second-quarter sales at its Coles supermarket chain rose 6.7 percent as its refurbished stores attracted customers.
Same-store food and liquor sales at Coles, excluding convenience stores, advanced 6.6 percent in the quarter, Wesfarmers said on Monday, satisfying market expectations for a rise of 6.3 percent, according to a Reuters survey of three analysts, and outpacing larger rival Woolworths'.
* Minara Resources, Australia's no. 2 nickel miner, reports Q4/full year production data, expected to show 2010 production of between 28,000-30,000 tonnes of nickel.
* Quarterly production results are due from from Origin Energy. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2151 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1276.34 -1.79% -23.200 USD/JPY 82.01 0.02% 0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3292 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1338.3 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 89.34 4.32% 3.700 DOW JONES 11823.70 -1.39% -166.13 ASIA ADRS 139.71 -2.58% -3.70 -------------------------------------------------------------
* Egypt riots spark biggest U.S. stocks drop in 6 mos
* Oil: Brent surges to near $100 on Egypt unrest
* Gold rises 2 pct on safe-haven play, Egypt unrest
* Copper ends up near record, tin posts new peak
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))
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* Australian share index futures fell 49 points or 1 percent to 4,708, a discount of 66.9 points to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close on Friday of 4774.88, which was a loss of 0.7 percent on the day.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.4 percent to 3,340.5 in early trade.
* On Wall Street, stocks suffered their biggest one-day loss in nearly six months on Friday as anti-government rioting in Egypt prompted investors to flee to less risky assets to ride out the turmoil.
* Still, Australian precious metal miners may be in favour after gold posted its biggest gains in eight weeks on Friday, up nearly 2 percent as the prospect of unrest in Egypt spreading across the Middle East fueled a rush of safe-haven buying.
* Copper prices closed 1.5 percent away from their record high on Friday, after data showing the U.S. economic expansion picked up in the fourth quarter reaffirmed robust global demand prospects for the industrial metal.
* BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto will be in focus after The Sunday Telegraph said investors wrote to the pair to say the miners should ditch ambitions for mega deals in favour of multi-billion pound share buyback schemes. See .
* New Zealand building supplies firm Fletcher Building Ltd fell 0.8 percent after it sweetened its bid for Australia's Crane Group by about A$44 million on Monday, winning the support of the board. The new offer implies A$9.54 to A$10.07 a share. See.
* Wesfarmers, a retail-to-coal conglomerate, said total second-quarter sales at its Coles supermarket chain rose 6.7 percent as its refurbished stores attracted customers.
Same-store food and liquor sales at Coles, excluding convenience stores, advanced 6.6 percent in the quarter, Wesfarmers said on Monday, satisfying market expectations for a rise of 6.3 percent, according to a Reuters survey of three analysts, and outpacing larger rival Woolworths'.
* Minara Resources, Australia's no. 2 nickel miner, reports Q4/full year production data, expected to show 2010 production of between 28,000-30,000 tonnes of nickel.
* Quarterly production results are due from from Origin Energy. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2151 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1276.34 -1.79% -23.200 USD/JPY 82.01 0.02% 0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3292 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1338.3 0.00% 0.000 US CRUDE 89.34 4.32% 3.700 DOW JONES 11823.70 -1.39% -166.13 ASIA ADRS 139.71 -2.58% -3.70 -------------------------------------------------------------
* Egypt riots spark biggest U.S. stocks drop in 6 mos
* Oil: Brent surges to near $100 on Egypt unrest
* Gold rises 2 pct on safe-haven play, Egypt unrest
* Copper ends up near record, tin posts new peak
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.