Welcome to Tuesday. 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 0.7% higher, despite weak leads from offshore markets.US markets sank overnight with the Dow Jones falling 0.2%, the S&P 500 down 0.5% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ losing 1.2%.Oil and gold prices bounced overnight, with our big miners and oil stocks leading the charge on the ASX today.
- Investment bank Citigroup has called the bottom for oil prices, after they fell to five-year lows. Overnight, Brent Crude Oil gained 2.8% to US$72.11. Citi says it expects the oil price "may have finally run its course", for both the near-term and possibly the medium term.The analysts have based their analysis on previous slides in the oil price in 1998, 2008 and 2010.Oil had fallen 40% since mid-June, as supply of oil, gas and petroleum products surged, mostly as a result of booming US shale production.
- In other commodity news, Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) says there are signs of recovery in the thermal coal markets, after coal prices crashed as low as US$62 a tonne. Rio's coal chief Harry Kenyon-Slaney is optimistic about the future, but says like a supertanker, it takes time to turn around.That may be good news for other coal producers Whitehaven Coal Limited (ASX: WHC), New Hope Corporation Limited (ASX: NHC), as well as BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP).
- Tweet of the Day
With oil prices finding support overnight is Santos now too cheap to ignore? $STO #ausbiz https://t.co/W0CwwCAFCc
The Motley Fool Aust (@TheMotleyFoolAu) December 1, 2014Time to look at oil stocks? Maybe, with Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) down 22% in last five trading days.
- Stock of the Day – brought to you by Andrew Mudie – M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU). The telecommunications business, with brands such as Dodo and iPrimus, could have a good year in 2015. Here's what investors need to know.
