Welcome to Wednesday. 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 slightly lower, following weak leads from offshore markets.The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% as did the broader S&P 500 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ lost 0.6% to fall below the 5,000 mark.
Crude oil prices gained overnight, with Brent oil adding 2.2% to US$60.85 per barrel, while iron ore was down slightly at US$62.24 per tonne.
The Australian dollar is up against the US dollar and is currently buying 78.2 US cents.
- Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) has gone into a trading halt, as it plans a huge capital raising to facilitate the US$4 billion purchase of an aircraft operating lease portfolio. The portfolio comprises 90 current, modern commercial passenger aircraft leased to 40 airlines.The investment bank plans to raise $500 million through a placement and share purchase plan. Yet again, another example of a company snubbing its smaller retail shareholders. There is no real reason Macquarie couldn't have raised capital through a pro-rata renounceable rights issue.
- The World Bank predicts the iron ore surplus could last as long as two years, forecasting the commodity price with average US$75 per tonne this year.Given the current price is less than US$65 per tonne now, it seems the Bank expects the price to rise – but with such an oversupply and lack of new demand – I'm not sure how they came to that forecast.
But whatever happens, Australia's junior iron ore miners are facing significant headwinds. They may not be able to survive such low prices for an extended period.
- Tweet of the Day
Many older Australians who are finding it hard to make ends meet at home and are starting a new life in Asia. https://t.co/T33TDOm7eJ
Fairfax Money (@FairfaxMoney) March 3, 2015If your super isn't enough, can you retire in Asia? Seems many of us are planning to.
- Stock of the Day– brought to you by Tim McArthur – Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW). The giant supermarket retailer has seen its share price fall below $30, following weak first half results and a drop in forecast full-year growth. But with a decent fully franked dividend of around 4.7%, could it be a bargain?
