Welcome to Monday and the start of a new week. Here are the five things I'm looking at today on the Australian sharemarket.
- The S&P/ ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.1% down despite Wall Street rising on Friday.
The Dow Jones rose 0.1%, as did the broader S&P 500 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 0.1%.
Oil prices were flat with Brent Crude Oil at US$66.84 per barrel while WTI Crude was at US$59.78 per barrel. (WTI stands for West Texas Intermediate and is the benchmark oil price in the US while the Brent crude oil price is more widely used in Europe.)Iron ore prices fell to US$61 per tonne.The Australian dollar is steady against the US dollar and is currently buying 80.3 US cents.
- BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) spin-off South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) will begin trading today, at prices between $2 and $3.50 per share. BHP shares will likely drop around the same value from its last traded price of $32.49.
It remains to be seen how long South32 will remain an independent company, with analysts predicting a takeover offer from X2 Resources or Glencore anytime. That may well drive the share price higher than could be expected.
- DuluxGroup Limited (ASX: DLX) has posted a 9.3% increase in underlying net profit to $61.4 million for the six months to end of March 2015. However, the paints maker has taken $11.9 million in restructuring costs associated with a new state-of-the-art paint factory in Melbourne and a purpose-built distribution centre in NSW.Managing Director Patrick Houlihan described the result as 'a very solid first half', and the company expects the underlying net profit for the 2015 financial year to be higher than 2014's $111.9 million.
- Tweet of the Day
DataRoom: Research giant Bayer is weighing a takeover of medical device maker Sirtex. https://t.co/bCmzgvQm67 pic.twitter.com/trCQ8bZn6g
Business Review (@aus_business) May 17, 2015Mind you, Bloomberg ran a similar story in 2012.
- Stock of the Day – brought to you by Ryan Newman – Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL). The fizzy drinks maker has lost its fizz but is fighting back. This excellent article takes a deeper dive into the company.
