5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today

S&P/ASX 200 opens 0.4% higher

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Welcome to Wednesday. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.

  1. The S&P/ ASX 200(Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.4% higher this morning, following gains on Wall Street overnight.The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% as did the broader S&P 500 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ managed a gain of 0.1%.

    Crude oil prices were up again overnight, with Brent oil gaining 1.2% to US$62.16 per barrel while iron ore was smashed down 3.5% to US$63.02 per tonne.

    The Australian dollar is up against the US dollar and is currently buying 78.1 US cents.

  2. Transport group Toll Holdings Limited (ASX: TOL) has received a $6.5 billion takeover bid by Japan Post, which the board has recommended. And why wouldn't they? Japan Post has offered $9.04 in cash for each Toll share – a 49% premium to the last traded price.The offer comes despite Toll reporting a 22% fall in first-half net profit.
  3. Arrium Limited (ASX: ARI) has posted a $1.5 billion loss after writing off much of its iron ore investment, following massive falls in the commodity price. This may sound silly, but we were warning investors that the company was jumping from the frying pan into the fire as far back as 3 years ago in this article.
  4. Tweet of the Day

    Is this good news for pet products retailer, veterinary owner and pet insurer Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL)?

  5. Stock of the Day– brought to you by Darryl Date-Shappard – Toll Holdings Limited (ASX: TOL). As mentioned above, Toll has received a takeover bid from Japan Post. Find out what you need to know here.
Motley Fool writer/analyst Mike King owns shares in Greencross. You can follow Mike on Twitter @TMFKinga

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