ASX defies Wall St slide to finish flat
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The news: The Australian sharemarket staged a last minute rally to finish almost flat on Thursday, after a stalled session on Wall Street and weak import data from China. The benchmark ASX 200 jumped 0.2% in the final minutes of trading to close 0.07% lower to 7,173.30, for the day. The All Ordinaries index shed 0.03%.
The numbers: The Aussie dollar lost ground against the greenback, falling from 65.9 US cents to 65.3 US cents since this time yesterday. Oil prices plumbed lower, with Brent crude futures trading at USD74.73 a barrel and West Texas futures fetching USD69.88 a barrel.
The context: Washington H. Soul Pattinson will hold its AGM tomorrow, which will be worth watching for any developments on its rejected takeover bid for Perpetual. US unemployment claims are due overnight, so investors will be looking for signs of further softening of the US jobs market.
The sources: ASX, Australian Shareholders' Association
