Welcome to Friday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has jumped at the open, rising 0.5%.US markets rebounded overnight, with the Dow Jones gaining 1.3%, the broader S&P 500 up 1.0% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ also up 1.0%.
The Australian dollar was smashed overnight against the US dollar and is currently buying 77.6 US cents.
- Australia's largest gold miner, Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) has increased production guidance for the full year to between 2.3 million and 2.5 million ounces. The falling Australian dollar is helping the miner's revenues, with the average price received in the December half rising to $1,398 an ounce.Last night's crash in the A$/US$ exchange rate will help – but the spot gold price fell the most in a year overnight, offsetting that.
- Seven Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: SVW) continues to diversify into energy. This time the investment company of Kerry Stokes has acquired a small 3.5% stake in Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT). That follows the acquisition of Nexus Energy in December 2014.With ex-Woodside Petroleum boss Don Voelte at the helm of Seven, it's probably no wonder the company is heading down the oil and gas route. Given the issues its Westrac mining equipment business is facing, not a bad idea to diversify away.
- Tweet of the Day
There is nothing obvious that will break investors' love of the big banks https://t.co/RFYJKZrbIM
Financial Review (@FinancialReview) January 29, 2015 - Stock of the Day– brought to you by Ryan Newman – Credit Corp Group Ltd (ASX: CCP). With the debt collector's half year report out yesterday, Ryan tells you what you need to know here.
