- The S&P/ ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has opened 0.3% lower, following Wall Street's lead.
In the US, the Dow Jones fell 0.5% as did the broader S&P 500 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ fell 0.2%Oil prices were up slightly, with Brent Crude Oil gaining 0.4% to US$58.10 per barrel, and WTI Crude added 0.7% to hit US$52.02 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.)
The Australian dollar is down against the US dollar and is currently buying 75.9 US cents.
- Toll road operator Transurban Group (ASX: TCL) has seen revenues increase by 79% to $376 million, compared to the previous year. However, much of that is due to the acquisitions of Queensland Motorways and the Cross City Tunnel in Sydney in Jun and July 2014.
Proportional toll revenue, which Transurban believes is a more accurate measure of performance, was up 11.3% with strong traffic growth across all its networks. The company is currently paying a 3.8% partly franked dividend (~20%).
- Iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX: FMG) is up 1.7%, as iron ore prices staged a rare positive rise overnight. Spot iron ore rose 2.7% to US$48.82 per tonne.
But it's unlikely to be a sign of further recovery in the commodity price, unfortunately for many iron ore miners.Fortescue has even taken the drastic step of asking its miners to work more, changing its roster to a two-weeks on, one-week off from its current schedule of 8 days on, six days off.
- Tweet of the Day
.@BHPBilliton, @RioTinto dividends mean investment cuts at $US35 iron ore price @tessingram https://t.co/y8FxoZPPPI via @FinancialReview
Financial Review (@FinancialReview) April 13, 2015Continuing the theme I suggested last week, the big miners BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) could be forced to cut their dividends.
- Stock of the Day – brought to you by Brendon Lau – M2 Group Ltd (ASX: MTU). M2 has announced the acquisition of New Zealand's Call Plus Group – but could it be a takeover target too?
5 things you need to know about the Australian sharemarket today
S&P/ASX 200 opens 0.3% lower
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Published Mike King is a Fool.com.au Investment Analyst and Writer. He caught the investing bug more than a decade ago, at a time when the U.S. had invaded Iraq and fear reigned in the markets. His initial success as the markets took off encouraged his passion and thirst for knowledge.
With 13 years behind him at one of Australia's largest domestic banks, Mike's passion for stocks led him to join a boutique funds management firm, where he stayed for four years. A seven-year stint in equity research at one of the largest investment banks in the world followed that, giving Mike a thirst to pursue his passion further.
Mike holds a Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Planning. His passion is to help retail investors invest better, and that passion was one of his primary reasons for joining The Motley Fool Australia in late 2011. Mike has written thousands of articles since joining, including for Fairfax Media, Yahoo!7, Ninemsn and has also appeared on ABC's The Business.
You can see all of Mikes' holdings here
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