BXB Brambles Limited

2350 GMT [Dow Jones] Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is poised to continue recovering before a two-day FOMC meeting concludes Wednesday, with U.S. equities, iron ore and crude oil providing positive leads for the Australian market. IG strategist Evan Lucas tips a 0.8% opening rise to 4851, which would see the domestic bourse at a 2-week high, and 4.1% above the 5-month low of 4658.6 struck last Thursday. With the S&P 500 up 0.8%, spot iron ore up 2.3%, and the Australian dollar down 0.8%, BHP ADRs equivalent close at A$33.07 suggests the market heavyweight should rise about 1.1%. Still, the resources sector is likely to be mixed, after spot gold fell 1.2% and LME copper declined 1.1%. AUD/USD weakness could spark a rebound in non-mining offshore income earners like CSL (CSL.AU), QBE (QBE.AU) and Brambles (BXB.AU), and banks may outperform after a strong intraday recovery. However, much of the focus today will be on the News Corp (NWS.AU) demerger, with the demerged News Corp (NNC.AU) and Fox (NWS.AU) due to start trading today. Index last 4814.4. (david.rogers1@wsj.com)

 
Write to Shani Raja at shani.raja@wsj.com 
 
 

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