Welcome to Friday Fools. 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 up 0.3% as Wall Street recovered somewhat overnight.
In the US, the Dow Jones gained 0.5%, the broader S&P 500 rose 0.4% while the tech-heavy NASDAQ also added 0.5%.
Oil prices were again mixed, with Brent Crude Oil sliding 3.3% to US$65.54 per barrel while WTI Crude added 0.2% to US$59.03 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 0.9% overnight to US$60.36 per tonne.
The Australian dollar has fallen against the US dollar and is currently buying 79.1 US cents.
- Australia's own investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) has produced a sizzling full year profit – 27% above last year and coming in at $1.6 billion. Earnings per share came in at $5.02, up 31% and the bank declared a 40% franked dividend of $2.00 per share – taking the full year dividend to $3.30, well above the $2.60 paid out in the 2014 financial year.That places the bank on a P/E of 15.2x and a dividend yield of 4.3%, which appears cheap.
- UBS analysts expect National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) to raise more capital and warned clients the most recent $5.5 billion raising won't be the last.The analysts suggest the bank's capital ratio may look strong, but is unlikely to be sufficient, with Australia's big banks all forced to increase their capital.If you own bank shares, you need to read this -> What Every Bank Shareholder Must Know
- Tweet of the Day
Our first capture of #Rochester NY includes a view of the awesome #NiagaraFalls. Log in free! https://t.co/h5VEZnTNxt pic.twitter.com/y8OLTeCtJd
nearmap (@nearmap) May 7, 2015Australian photo-mapper Nearmap Limited (ASX: NEA) is expanding into the US currently, and its cameras are taking some fantastic shots.
- Stock of the Day – brought to you by Matt Brazier – Seek Limited (ASX: SEK). Shares in the jobs site owner have climbed more than 600% in the past decade, is there more to come?
