MELBOURNE, Feb 24 - Australian stocks look set to fall for a
fifth day on Thursday, with banks and insurers under pressure
after New Zealand's worst earthquake in 80 years, and the wider
market pressured as Wall Street tumbled and oil prices surged to
$100 a barrel on Libya's violence.
* Stock index futures fell 0.5 percent to 4,806, a
39.9
point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index . The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.2 percent on Wednesday at near a three-week low.
* Local earnings will also guide the market as several key firms reported results on Thursday. Insurance Australia Group said its first-half net profit fell 51 percent. The company flagged the result on Feb 14 and on Wednesday cut its 2011 insurance margin guidance to 8 to 10 percent.
* Fairfax Media reported a 15 percent rise in first-half net profit, almost matching analyst expectations, and said it will buy back some shares.
* Origin Energy said its underlying profit was expected to rise 10-15 percent in the full year.
* Logistics firm Toll Group said first-half net profit rose 53 percent on the back of new acquisitions in its freight forwarding business.
* U.S. stocks dropped for a second straight session on Wednesday as tech shares sank. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.9 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.2 percent.
* U.S. oil prices surged to $100 a barrel for the first time since October 2008 on Wednesday, driving investors to the safety of gold and the Swiss franc, as the uprising in Libya fanned fears of inflation and a stalled economic recovery.
* Miners will take no comfort from copper prices, which hit a near one-month low offshore, but gold prices should support Australian precious metal producers after hitting a 7-week high.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.3 percent to 3,363.2 in early trade.
--------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2144 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1307.4 -0.61% -8.040 USD/JPY 82.47 -0.29% -0.240
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.483 -
0.024SPOT GOLD 1411.32 0.87% 12.120 US CRUDE 98.74 3.48% 3.320 DOW JONES 12105.78 -0.88% -107.01 ASIA ADRS 142.31 -0.42% -0.60
* Wall St falls as oil climbs, tech shares drop
* US oil soars as high as $100 on Libya unrest
* Gold hits 7-wk top on Libya unrest, market jitters
* Copper dips as unrest spurs inflation worries
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.
* Stock index futures fell 0.5 percent to 4,806, a
39.9
point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index . The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 0.2 percent on Wednesday at near a three-week low.
* Local earnings will also guide the market as several key firms reported results on Thursday. Insurance Australia Group said its first-half net profit fell 51 percent. The company flagged the result on Feb 14 and on Wednesday cut its 2011 insurance margin guidance to 8 to 10 percent.
* Fairfax Media reported a 15 percent rise in first-half net profit, almost matching analyst expectations, and said it will buy back some shares.
* Origin Energy said its underlying profit was expected to rise 10-15 percent in the full year.
* Logistics firm Toll Group said first-half net profit rose 53 percent on the back of new acquisitions in its freight forwarding business.
* U.S. stocks dropped for a second straight session on Wednesday as tech shares sank. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.9 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.2 percent.
* U.S. oil prices surged to $100 a barrel for the first time since October 2008 on Wednesday, driving investors to the safety of gold and the Swiss franc, as the uprising in Libya fanned fears of inflation and a stalled economic recovery.
* Miners will take no comfort from copper prices, which hit a near one-month low offshore, but gold prices should support Australian precious metal producers after hitting a 7-week high.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.3 percent to 3,363.2 in early trade.
--------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2144 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1307.4 -0.61% -8.040 USD/JPY 82.47 -0.29% -0.240
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.483 -
0.024SPOT GOLD 1411.32 0.87% 12.120 US CRUDE 98.74 3.48% 3.320 DOW JONES 12105.78 -0.88% -107.01 ASIA ADRS 142.31 -0.42% -0.60
* Wall St falls as oil climbs, tech shares drop
* US oil soars as high as $100 on Libya unrest
* Gold hits 7-wk top on Libya unrest, market jitters
* Copper dips as unrest spurs inflation worries
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.