Australian building materials and sugar producer, CSR Limited, now can move on its plan to separate its sugar and renewable energy business, after the Federal Court accepted an appeal from CSR in relation to lower court's ruling to block the company's demerger proposal in February.
Wall Street Thursday closed with little change after the market trimmed its early gains. US stocks rose for most of the session, but in the afternoon the market declined as falls in crude oil future hit the energy shares. Higher metal price could help the Asian markets Friday to offset some negative sentiment that cut gains on Wall Street. Asian bourses ended mixed Thursday while fiscal concerns in euro zone persist. Hong Kong and Shanghai markets lost more than 1 per cent each. However, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average added 0.1 per cent, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4% and Taiwan's Taiex finished 0.2% higher.
Banking shares continued to push the US market higher overnight, despite resources and industrial sectors were hurt by worries that China may tighten its policy to cool the overheating economy after the country's latest inflation data. Consumer price index for February in China rose a faster-than-expected 2.7% in February from a year earlier. Thursday Asian markets closed mixed. Several major markets dropped after Chinese economic data. Japan's Nikkei index was up 1 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index inched up 0.1%. Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.4 per cent and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.3 per cent. China's Shanghai Composited gave up most of its early gains and closed with a 0.1 per cent gain.
The Australian sharemarket fell on Thursday as investors digested some mixed earnings results. Investors also managed to take profit for the market after two days gains. At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index lost 13 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 4654.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index gave up 12.9 points, or 0.28 per cent to 4673.9.
Asian markets rallied Wednesday led by resources shares. Japan's Nikkei surged 2.7 per cent while Japanese exporters were helped by the weaker yen. Hong Kong market rose 1.3 per cent led by Chinese banks, as investors digested the Chinese government's decision before the Lunar New Year holiday to increase bank reserve requirement. Singapore also resumed trading on Wednesday and posted a 1.3 per cent gain. Today Shanghai and Taiwan markets remained closed.
Overnight US markets was higher, helped by the healthcare sector after Senate's initial procedural vote to advance a healthcare reform bill. Alcoa and Intel shares also led the top gainers while their investment ratings were upgraded.
US stocks closed at 14-month highs on the news of Dubai's US$10 billion funding and a big acquisition by Exxon Mobil, which agreed to acquire XTO Energy for US$31 billion in stock.
