MELBOURNE, Feb 17 - Australian stocks may glean support on
Thursday from a stronger performance on Wall Street and some
fresh local earnings that mostly met or beat expectations,
though lower copper prices may pressure mining shares.
* Share price index futures rose 11 points to 4,923.0, a 7.2 point discount to the 4,930.2 close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index on Wednesday. The index ended flat the past two days.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was up a point at 3,384.6 in early trade.
* Many companies reported earnings before the start of trade on Thursday, led by Qantas Airways Ltd which said half year profit was A$241 million, short of analyst expectations for A$284 million but still more than four times earnings a year earlier. Qantas did not declare an interim dividend.
* Wealth manager AMP reported a 2 percent fall in annual profit and warned that it might take some time for investor confidence to recover. The result was in line with expectations.
* Property group Lend Lease reported a 10.3 percent rise in first-half net profit, beating analyst estimates.
* Santos, an Australian oil and gas producer, reported a 46 percent rise in annual net profit, topping broker forecasts.
* Bourse operator and takeover target ASX Group Ltd reported a rise first-half profit on Thursday, and said its merger with Singapore Exchange remained its key focus.
Net profit before one-offs was A$175.5 million for the six months to December, while the average forecast of 11 analysts was for A$172 million.
* Wesfarmers reports first-half earnings later on Thursday.
* In the United States, the S&P 500 rose on Wednesday to twice its value from just two years ago, a bounce whose vigor has not been seen since the Great Depression, but light volume makes the recent move more tenuous.
* Copper ended down for a second straight day on Wednesday, sinking further away from this week's record high, as concerns about rising inflation and restrained growth prospects in emerging world economies began to bite. --------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2210 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1336.32 0.63% 8.310 USD/JPY 83.64 -0.04% -0.030
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.6231 -
0.019SPOT GOLD 1374.3 0.01% 0.100 US CRUDE 85.12 0.95% 0.800 DOW JONES 12288.17 0.50% 61.53 ASIA ADRS 146.60 0.75% 1.09
* U.S. stocks: S&P rises, doubles its 2009 low
* Brent oil hits 2-1/2 year high
* Gold ends flat but Mideast tensions underpin
* Growth concerns drag copper to lower close
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.
* Share price index futures rose 11 points to 4,923.0, a 7.2 point discount to the 4,930.2 close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index on Wednesday. The index ended flat the past two days.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index was up a point at 3,384.6 in early trade.
* Many companies reported earnings before the start of trade on Thursday, led by Qantas Airways Ltd which said half year profit was A$241 million, short of analyst expectations for A$284 million but still more than four times earnings a year earlier. Qantas did not declare an interim dividend.
* Wealth manager AMP reported a 2 percent fall in annual profit and warned that it might take some time for investor confidence to recover. The result was in line with expectations.
* Property group Lend Lease reported a 10.3 percent rise in first-half net profit, beating analyst estimates.
* Santos, an Australian oil and gas producer, reported a 46 percent rise in annual net profit, topping broker forecasts.
* Bourse operator and takeover target ASX Group Ltd reported a rise first-half profit on Thursday, and said its merger with Singapore Exchange remained its key focus.
Net profit before one-offs was A$175.5 million for the six months to December, while the average forecast of 11 analysts was for A$172 million.
* Wesfarmers reports first-half earnings later on Thursday.
* In the United States, the S&P 500 rose on Wednesday to twice its value from just two years ago, a bounce whose vigor has not been seen since the Great Depression, but light volume makes the recent move more tenuous.
* Copper ended down for a second straight day on Wednesday, sinking further away from this week's record high, as concerns about rising inflation and restrained growth prospects in emerging world economies began to bite. --------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2210 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1336.32 0.63% 8.310 USD/JPY 83.64 -0.04% -0.030
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.6231 -
0.019SPOT GOLD 1374.3 0.01% 0.100 US CRUDE 85.12 0.95% 0.800 DOW JONES 12288.17 0.50% 61.53 ASIA ADRS 146.60 0.75% 1.09
* U.S. stocks: S&P rises, doubles its 2009 low
* Brent oil hits 2-1/2 year high
* Gold ends flat but Mideast tensions underpin
* Growth concerns drag copper to lower close
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.