Welcome to Thursday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) is expected to post a slight fall today, with futures markets pricing in an 8-point fall.Wall Street gave up some of its gains, with the Dow Jones ending flat, the broader S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ 0.2%.Oil prices continued their topsy-turvy ride, with Brent Crude Oil falling 6.1% to US$54.38per barrel, and WTI Crude down a whopping 8.4% to US$48.59 per barrel.The Australian dollar has slipped slightly against the US dollar and is currently buying 77.5 US cents.
- Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (ASX: TAH) has announced that it will pay shareholders a fully franked 30 cent special dividend, along with its interim dividend of 10 cents, also fully franked. Shareholders will likely be delighted with the move – although this is not something for free.Tabcorp will fund the dividend payout with a discounted renounceable rights offer.It's likely that a number of other companies with large franking credit balances could undertake similar moves to return franking credits to shareholders before new company tax rates are imposed. Tabcorp shares are currently in a trading halt.
- Oil and gas stocks are likely to come in for some damage today, following falls in the oil prices overnight. Santos Ltd (ASX: STO), Origin Energy Limited (ASX: ORG) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL), as three of Australia's largest oil and gas producers, will be in the front line.
- Tweet of the Day
Early last year, the AFR wrote: "Australia is in the grip of a raging dividend boom." The same holds true today https://t.co/3bak5nISIL
Ryan Newman (@ASXvalueinvest) February 4, 2015 - Stock of the Day– brought to you by Joe Magyer – is not a stock, but an article on the future of iron ore. With the Motley Fool Pro team on the ground in China, they are perfectly situated to outline their expert views on Australia's largest export. You can read more here.
