Reuters: Hot Stocks: Australia shares seen higher; focus on earnings, rate decision

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Australia shares seen higher; focus on earnings, rate decision Aug 4th 2013, 22:54 SYDNEY | Sun Aug 4, 2013 6:54pm EDT SYDNEY Aug 5 (Reuters) - Australian shares are set to edge up on Monday after Wall Street ended at record highs, with firmer metal prices likely to boost miners as investors eye the start of the domestic earnings season and this week's central bank rate decision. * Local share price index futures rose 0.2 percent to 5,077.0, but they were still at a 39.8-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index close. The benchmark climbed 1.1 percent to close at a 2-1/2 month high on Friday. * New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index fell 0.3 percent in early trade to 4,569.7. * New Zealand's Fonterra Shareholder Fund tumbled 7.8 percent after the discovery of a bacteria that can cause botulism in some of the dairy giant's products. * The Dow industrials and S&P 500 ended at record highs for a second day on Friday, posting modest gains despite a mixed employment report that showed U.S. hiring slowed in July. * Copper reached its highest price in more than a week on Friday as the dollar fell and after data showed slightly stronger than expected factory activity in big metals consumer China. * Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called a Sept. 7 general election on Sunday, barely six weeks after he toppled former leader Julia Gillard in a party-room vote, ending a turbulent three years in power for the minority Labor government. * Electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi Ltd will report its full year results on Monday. * Australia will release retail sales figures for June and the second quarter. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2223 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1709.67 0.16% 2.800 USD/JPY 98.91 -0.02% -0.020 10-YR US TSY YLD 2.5979 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1313 0.11% 1.500 US CRUDE 106.91 -0.03% -0.030 DOW JONES 15658.36 0.19% 30.34 ASIA ADRS 143.08 1.13% 1.60 ------------------------------------------------------------- * Dow, S&P 500 end at record despite tepid jobs data * Oil slips on U.S. jobs data disappointment * Gold rebounds on U.S. payrolls but posts weekly loss * Copper rises on dollar, mixed U.S. jobs data weighs For a digest of the day's business stories in Australian newspapers, double click on (Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Richard Pullin) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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