Australia shares seen higher on U.S. investor confidence
SYDNEY, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Australian shares are likely to
open higher on Tuesday, boosted by a rally on Wall Street, while
local attention will be on a string of earnings results led by
top global miner BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) .
* Sydney share price index futures rose 25 points
to 5,554.0, a 33-point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200
index close. The benchmark rose 20.6 points to 5,587.1.
* New Zealand's benchmark NZX 50 index rose 22.3
points to 5093.5 in early trade.
* U.S. stocks surged overnight as increasing homebuilder
confidence and hopes of receding tensions in Russia prompted
investors to bet higher.
* Brent crude oil reached its lowest price in more than a
year as concerns over conflict in the middle east and Ukraine
eased while London copper nudged higher and capped after new
home prices in top metal consumer China fell in July for the
third month in a row.
* QBE Insurance Group, Australia's biggest insurer will post
it's half year results at 23:30GMT
* The Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes of
its policy meeting at 0130GMT
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2317 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1971.74 0.85% 16.680
USD/JPY 102.62 0.06% 0.060
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.3944 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD 1297.65 0.04% 0.460
US CRUDE 96.69 0.29% 0.280
DOW JONES 16838.74 1.06% 175.83
ASIA ADRS 154.91 0.83% 1.28
-------------------------------------------------------------
* Wall St rallies on M&A blitz and homebuilder data
* Brent crude hits 14-month low as supply risks ease
* Gold (Other OTC: GDCWF - news) falls as Ukraine tensions ease, equities rally
* Copper rebounds, but China property downturn caps
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(Editing by Eric Meijer)
