Data from the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday showed new orders for durable goods in the U.S. surged 3.4 percent in April. The increase exceeded market expectations of a 0.5 percent rise and was driven mainly by demand for transportation equipment.
Markets
Wall Street closed mixed yesterday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close at 17,828, the S&P 500 closed flat at 2,090 and the NASDAQ was up 0.1 per cent to close at 4,902.
European markets closed up: London’s FTSE gained 0.04 per cent, Paris and Frankfurt both rose 0.7 per cent
Asian markets closed up: Tokyo’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng both added 0.1 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite lifted 0.3 per cent.
The Australian share market closed higher yesterday: The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed 16 points up to finish at 5,388. On the futures market the SPI is 5 points up.
Currencies
The Australian Dollar at 7:20AM was buying $US0.7225 US cents, 49.27 Pence Sterling, 79.31 Yen and 64.56 Euro cents.
Company news
Infomedia Limited (ASX:IFM) have provided an update on its trading performance for FY16.
Shares in Infomedia closed 0.91 per cent up yesterday at $0.555.
Australian Vintage Limited (ASX:AVG) has announced its revenue is 8 percent up on the back of strong branded sales.
Shares in Australian Vintage closed 7.08 per cent up yesterday at $0.605.
Ex-dividends
3 companies are going ex-dividend today:
Fonterra Share Fund will pay a dividend of 7.93 cents unfranked
Opus Group Limited will pay a dividend of 11 cents, fully franked
Whitefield Limited will pay a dividend of 8.5 cents, fully franked
Commodities
Gold is down $3.90 to $US1,223 an ounce for the June contract on Comex.
Silver has gained $0.08 to $16.34 for July.
Copper is steady $2.10 a pound for July.
Oil has slipped $0.16 to $US49.48 a barrel for June light crude in New York.