Australian shares outlook - Slightly lower on profit taking after record highs

Australian shares outlook - Slightly lower on profit taking after record highs

	Published : Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:09 By : Agencies Print this Story

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australian shares are likely to open slightly lower Friday after a four-day record run as investors take their cue from the pullback on Wall Street.

The S&P/ASX 200 December futures contract ended its overnight session down 26 points at 6,800, suggesting a mildly negative start to trading.

But Bell Potter Securities private client advisor Stuart Smith said the market is hard to call today.

'It could go either way - what we have seen this week is willing buying by overseas investors while local investors have not been willing sellers which accounts for the low volumes,' Smith said.

On Thursday, the key market indices closed at fresh record highs with index leader BHP Billiton

settling near all-time highs. The stock ended at 46.04 Australian dollars, a tad off the record 46.05 dollars struck on Oct 2.

The S&P/ASX 200 closed up 33.6 points or 0.5 percent at a record 6,771.9, after reaching a

fresh intraday peak of 6,782.5.

The All Ordinaries index ended up 35.0 points or 0.5 percent at a record 6,779.6, after climbing as high as 6,789.5 during the session.

In New York, share retreated from lofty heights on Thursday after a European Central Bank official pointed to rising price risks and a major Wall Street bank lowered its sales expectations for Chinese Internet company Baidu.com.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 63.57 points or 0.5 percent at 14,105.12.

News Corp shares ended unchanged at 24.40 US dollars.

In London, shares closed sharply higher Thursday, climbing back above the 6,700 level for the first time since June this year, aided by a strong performance by UK-listed miners which mirrored gains across the regions.

The FTSE 100 ended up 91.5 points or 1.4 percent at 6,724.5. BHP Billiton soared 4.4 percent and Rio Tinto jumped 3.5 percent.

Crude oil prices rallied again on Thursday in response to a surprise drawdown in weekly US supplies. The Energy Information Administration reported US crude oil stocks fell by 1.7 million

barrels. The November crude oil contract rose 1.78 dollars to 83.08 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange .

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metals Exchange. Lead eased from record highs on profit taking but low supply levels remain supportive of the metal's price. Nickel gained 1.9 percent but copper eased 1.3 percent.

Gold prices reached fresh 28-year highs following the spike in oil prices. The most-active December gold contract rose 10.70 dollars or 1.4 percent to 756.70 dollars an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

(1 US dollar = 1.11 Australian dollars)

bruce.hextall@thomson.com

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