Overseas Market Report – U.S. Stocks End Higher after Fed Minutes
U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday as Federal Reserve officials signalled the likelihood of a December rate hike.
"Most participants" anticipated that the conditions for beginning to raise interest rates "could well be met by the time of the next meeting," the minutes from the Federal Reserve October policy meeting said.
The Commerce Department said housing starts fell 11% in October to an annual rate of 1.06 million, the lowest level since March. Housing starts in September were also revised down slightly to a seasonally adjusted 1.19 million rate.At the close, the Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ were up 1.4%, 1.6% and 1.8%, respectively.
For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton added 55 cents (1.96%) to $28.60, ResMed gained 56 cents (0.97%) to $58.14, Telstra Corporation lifted 30 cents (1.58%) to $18.98, Spark New Zealand rose 15 cents (1.47%) to $10.34 and Westpac increased 31 cents (1.42%) to $22.20.
At 7:45 AM (AEDT), the 10-year Treasury note yield was 2.27% and the 5-year yield was 1.68%.
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) confirmed the details of its cash-stock offer to Norfolk Southern Corp (NSC), which would value the combined company at $270.68 per share.
European markets were mixed.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, the French CAC 40 fell 0.6% and Germany's DAX lost 0.1%.
Asian shares were also mixed.
The Shanghai Composite fell 1.0%, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.1% and the Hang Seng was down 0.3%. India's Sensex dropped 1.5%.
Australian Market Report – Local Market Expected To Open Higher
Ahead of the local open, SPI futures were 57 points higher at 5,188.
Wednesday 18 November – close. Local shares started the day on a low point on the back of an overnight fall in commodity prices. The Australian market fought its way back to positive territory after a late turnaround on the big four banks, to close modestly above the flat line. Most sectors performed positively, with the exception of materials and consumer staples. The Australian dollar depreciated against most major currencies.
The All Ordinaries rose 14.80 points to 5,189.10 while the S&P/ASX 200 added 14.90 points to 5,133.10.
Ten Network Holdings (TEN)
Ten Network Holdings announced that it has completed the retail component of its fully underwritten 7-for-37 accelerated renounceable entitlement offer of new Company shares (New Shares) (Retail Entitlement Offer). The Retail Entitlement Offer has raised $21m from the issue of 141m New Shares at an issue price of $0.15 per New Share, excluding the pre-commitments from four of the Company's largest shareholders to take up their pro-rata entitlements. This represents the final stage of the Company's entitlement offer of $77m as announced on 26 October 2015. The Retail Shortfall Bookbuild priced at $0.16 per New Share. TEN fell 1 cent to $0.16.
South32 Limited (S32)
South32 announced that the JV's South African mines will remain closed until the completion of the ongoing strategic review. Production was suspended following a fatality at the Mamatwan mine on 2 November 2015. As a major employer in the region, the planned reconfiguration of the Samancor Manganese mines in the Kalahari basin is required to secure their longer term viability in an increasingly competitive market. The current stakeholder consultation process is continuing and mining activity is likely to recommence in January 2016. While production will be significantly impacted in the 2016 financial year, rail and customer commitments will be met by drawing down inventory during this period. S32 dropped 4 cents to $1.25.
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