|
 |
THE Australian sharemarket was slightly down at noon after a lacklustre lead from Wall Street overnight -
|
see aviation sector
At 12.11pm (AEST), the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 22 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 5603, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 21.3 points to 5662.8.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the June share price index contract declined 34 points to 5657 on 10,641 contracts.
CMC Markets head of trading James Foulsham said the market had received a flat lead from Wall Street overnight.
US stocks were little changed overnight, sharply paring earlier gains as fears about corporate earnings cast a shadow over earlier optimism of signs that the credit crisis was easing.
"We didn't see much of a lead out of the US, with the Dow only up about three points and the Nasdaq down a bit.''
He said strong base metals and oil prices were helping the resource companies.
"The commodities were a little bit stronger, oil and copper were reasonably strong again,'' said Mr Foulsham.
ANZ had recovered a little from yesterday. ANZ yesterday released a list of 90 companies listed on the Australian stock exchange in which it has a substantial stake as a result of the collapse of Opes.
At 12.13pm AEDT, the big four banks were mixed, with ANZ up 19 cents to $22.20, National Australia Bank up 47 cents to $30.11 and Westpac higher by six cents to $24.19.
Commonwealth Bank was down 44 cents to $43.62.
The big miners were stronger, with BHP Billiton up 12 cents to $40.67 and Rio Tinto advancing 19 cents to $137.10.
At 12.19pm AEST, energy stocks were mixed, with Woodside Petroleum up 61 cents to $56.86 while Santos declined 18 cents to $15.06 and Oil Search lost five cents to $4.81.
The spot price of gold was $US924.00 an ounce, up $US9.15 on yesterday's local close of $US914.85. Despite the rise in the precious metal, gold miners declined. Newcrest lost 88 cents, or 2.49 per cent to $34.50, Lihir declined nine cents to $3.50 and Newmont lost four cents to $5.05.
The aviation sector was mixed, with Qantas off eight cents to $3.98 and Virgin Blue steady at $1.21.
Online travel agent Webjet has upgraded its full year profit guidance after experiencing record levels of demand for travel. Webjet was up 6.5 cents, or 4.39 per cent, to $1.545.
Engineer Downer EDI will supply another 19 locomotives to BHP Billiton's iron ore business.
Downer gained 17 cents, or 2.55 per cent, to $6.83.
Shares in supermarkets fell, with Woolworths down 29 cents to $30.44 and Wesfarmers losing eight cents to $39.02.
Telcos were weaker, with Telstra down seven cents to $4.42, its instalment receipts off eight cents to $2.82 and Optus-owner Singapore telecommunications down six cents to $3.09.
The most traded stock by volume was Centro Properties Group with 64.17 million shares worth $32.3 million changing hands. Centro shares gained four cents, or 8.6 per cent, to 50.5 cents.
Overall turnover at 12.35pm AEST was 714.29 million shares worth $2.54 billion, with 486 stocks up, 525 down and 291 unchanged.
SOURCE | Heraldsun.com.au on News.com.au
|
