Overseas Market Report – U.S. Stocks End Higher after Jobs Report
U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday after a better-than-expected employment report and after crude oil futures rallied.
The U.S. economy added 242,000 jobs in February, well above expectations. January's payroll numbers were also revised upward. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9%. Wages and hours worked did fall in the month from January levels.
The U.S. trade deficit grew by 2.2% last month to US$45.7 billion. Exports were off 2.1% as the strong dollar and slow global growth weighed. Imports were down 1.3% in the month thanks partially to low oil prices.
At market close the Dow, S&P 500 and the NASDAQ were each up 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Shares of HP Enterprise (HPE) soared on Friday after the firm reported results. Fiscal first-quarter results were predictably soft, as the company is combating several headwinds across multiple market segments, but not as badly as Morningstar would have expected. Revenue compression in the servers and storage segments was less severe than anticipated, while networking segment growth (thanks to Aruba) was stronger.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton gained $1.84 (7.12%) to $27.69, ResMed added 40 cents (0.70%) to $57.85, Telstra Corporation rose 40 cents (2.15%) to $19.02, Spark New Zealand added 7 cents (0.59%) to $11.88 and Westpac gained 68 cents (2.96%) to $23.64.
At 8:00 AM (AEDT), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 1.87% and the 5-year yield was 1.37%.
European markets ended the week on a high note.
Germany's DAX, the French CAC 40 and the FTSE 100 were up 0.7%, 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
Asian shares were also higher on Friday.
The Hang Seng gained 1.2%, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% and the Nikkei 225 was up 0.3%. India's Sensex gained 0.2%.
Australian Market Report- Local Market Expected To Open Higher
Ahead of the local open, SPI futures were 36 points higher at 5,121.
Friday 4 March – close. The Australian market opened higher Friday morning, despite little changes on Wall Street overnight. After briefly trading above the 5,100 mark, the benchmark index retreated from its intraday highs and finished this choppy session with marginal gains. There were mixed results from the sectors; materials were the best performers while health care lagged behind the rest. The Australian dollar appreciated against most major currencies.
The All Ordinaries rose 8.90 points (0.17%) to 5,151.10 while the S&P/ASX 200 added 8.90 points (0.18%) to 5,090.00.
In This Issue
ANZ (ANZ)
ANZ announced on 4 March 2016 that the Company has rejected allegations regarding bank trading and the bank bill swap rate (BBSW) made in the statement of claim on 4 March 2016 by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The Company will vigorously defend legal action brought by ASIC. ASIC has advised the Company that it has no concerns about the bank's current market practices and the Company noted there has been no allegation of collusion between it and other institutions. ASIC's legal action is likely to take a considerable time to reach a resolution through the Courts and the matter of penalties is uncertain. ANZ gained 22 cents to $25.02.
McMillan Shakespeare (MMS)
McMillan Shakespeare announced that Interleasing (Australia), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company have been appointed to the panel of vehicle leasing providers for NSW Government. The current NSW Government owned fleet of more than 22,000 vehicles will be progressively financed under these new arrangements from 1 July 2016. Interleasing will be one of a panel of six fleet funding providers. A separate panel structure for fleet management services has been established. MMS climbed 12 cents to $11.46.
Recent Contacts & Presentations
Troy Resources (TRY), Northern Star Resources (NST), Regis Resources (RRL), Medusa Mining (MML), Doray Minerals (DRM), Beadell Resources (BDR), Red 5 (RED), Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN), OBJ (OBJ), Sino Gas & Energy Holdings (SEH), TFS Corporation (TFC), Paragon Care (PGC), Austal (ASB), Orbital Corporation (OEC),Energia Minerals (EMX), Berkeley Energia (BKY) , Finders Resources (FND), 4DS Memory Ltd (4DS) , Bionomics Ltd (BNO)
