Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares seen firmer on Wall St. records, soft currency

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Australia shares seen firmer on Wall St. records, soft currency May 19th 2013, 23:05 Tweet Share this Email Print Sun May 19, 2013 7:05pm EDT SYDNEY, May 20 (Reuters) - Australian shares are seen starting firmer on Monday, after better economic data in the United States pushed Wall Street to fresh record highs and as the local dollar remains below parity against the greenback. * Local share price index futures rose 0.4 percent to 5,212.0, a 31.2-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark ended 0.3 percent up on Friday. * New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 0.2 percent to 4,605.3 points in early trade. * U.S. stocks continued their climb into uncharted territory on Friday, racking up a fourth week of gains in a row as encouraging economic data prompted investors to pick up shares of growth companies. * The Australian dollar clawed back from a near one-year low against the U.S. dollar on Monday, but risks more losses if growing signs of an improving U.S. economy further boosts the greenback. The softer local currency will be positive for Australian companies with large exposure to the U.S. and other overseas markets, such as QBE Insurance Group and Treasury Wine Estates. * Copper rose for a second day on Friday, supported by tentative signs of improved metals demand in top consumer China, but gains were capped by a stronger dollar and persistent worries about Chinese economic growth. * Fitch Ratings has downgraded SP Ausnet's credit rating, after the Australian company's majority holder Singapore Power said it would sell a 19.9 percent stake to China's State Grid for A$824 million. * Leighton Holdings Ltd, Australia's biggest construction company, holds its annual general meeting on Monday. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2234 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1667.47 1.03% 17.000 USD/JPY 102.9 -0.02% -0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 1.9541 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1348.41 -0.76% -10.290 US CRUDE 95.8 -0.23% -0.220 DOW JONES 15354.40 0.80% 121.18 ASIA ADRS 146.97 1.24% 1.80 ------------------------------------------------------------- * Dow, S&P end at records, stocks mark 4th week of gains * Oil rallies for third day, shrugging off firm dollar * Gold hits 1-month low as Fed pressured to end stimulus * Copper gains as China inventories fall, dlr weighs For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on (Australia/New Zealand bureaux; +61 2 9373 1800/+64 4 471 4234) (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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