Australian Stock Market Report – Morning November 28, 2014

An oil field is seen at sunrise near Bakersfield, California October 14, 2014. Brent crude hit a new four-year low on Wednesday before recovering to just under $85 a barrel, as faltering global growth curbed demand for fuel at a time of heavy oversupply. Oil saw its biggest daily fall in more than three years on Tuesday after the West's energy watchdog slashed its forecasts for world oil demand for this year and 2015. Picture taken October 14, 2014. Reuters/Stringer

* The US financial markets were closed for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

* Ministers from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have decided to leave production quotas unchanged, resulting in a 6% slump in world oil prices.

* The German inflation rate has fallen to the lowest levels in five years with consumer prices up just 0.6% on a year ago in November.

* European shares were generally higher on Thursday but losses in the energy sector offset gains in the broader market. Shares in airlines led market gains. The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose by 0.2%, the German Dax lifted for the 11th straight day, up by 0.6%, while the UK FTSE fell by 6 points higher or 0.1%. In London trade shares in BHP Billiton fell by 2.4% while Rio Tinto gained 0.3%.

* US sharemarkets were closed for Thanksgiving Day. At the end of trade on Wednesday the Dow Jones was up by 13 points or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index was up by 0.3% to record highs and the Nasdaq had gained 29 points or 0.6%.

* The US bond market was closed for Thanksgiving Day. On Wednesday US 2 year yields were steady near 0.52% while US 10 year yields fell by 2 points to 2.245%. Over the week US 2 year yields were unchanged while US 10 year yields fell by over 6 points.

* Major currencies fell against the greenback in European and North American trade on Thursday. The Euro fell from highs near US$1.2520 to lows near US$1.2465, and was around US$1.2470 in late North American trade. The Aussie dollar fell from highs near US86.10c to around US85.35c and was near US85.50c in late North American trade. And the Japanese yen weakened from 117.24 yen per US dollar to JPY117.87 and was near JPY117.73 in late US North American trade.

* World oil prices slumped on Thursday after OPEC oil nations kept production quotas unchanged. In electronic trade Brent crude fell by US$4.93 or 6.3% to US$72.87 a barrel while the US Nymex crude price fell by US$4.64 or 6.3% to US$69.05 a barrel.

* Base metal prices were lower by up to 0.7% on the London Metal Exchange on Thursday with zinc leading the declines while nickel bucked the trend, up less than 0.1%. Gold fell as the US dollar rose with Comex gold futures down by US$6.80 an ounce or 0.6% to US$1,189.80 per ounce. Iron ore rose by US$1.70 to US$69.70 a tonne on Thursday.

Ahead: In Australia, private sector credit figures and monthly banking statistics are released. In the US, there is only a half day of trade on equities markets.

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