A strong close on Wall Street offered hopes of further gains on the local stock market this morning. And while the bourse did open higher the market soon dipped into negative territory, at midday we’re down 0.2 per cent.
The energy sector supported the market this morning but it was a mixed bag with Santos trading lower on a dip in revenue, while Liquefied Natural Gas recorded a solid gain.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 12 points down at 5,657. On the futures market the SPI is 17 points lower.
Company news
Axiom Mining Limited
(ASX:AVQ) says a mining lease application for the Isabel Nickel Project in the Solomon Islands will be postponed until after a Court of Appeal hearing. The mining company says an objection was raised by Sumitomo, suggesting that the grant of a mining lease would be subject to the outcome of the hearing. Axiom and the Solomon Islands Government consented to the withdrawal and postponement of the application. Shares in Axiom are flat at $0.43
Flight Centre Travel Group Limited
(ASX:FLT) has completed the acquisition of a Mexican corporate travel business, Koch Overseas de Mexico. The company made a preliminary announcement of the deal in early may and now says the deal has been finalised with the price and business profits not material to FLT. Shares in Flight centre are trading down 1.26 per cent at $34.56
Best and worst performers The best performing sector is energy, gaining 0.5 per cent to 10,974. Shares in Liquefied Natural Gas Limited
(ASX:LNG) have risen 4.59 per cent and trading at $3.87. Shares in Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) and Senex Energy Limited
(ASX:SXY) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is telco services, falling 0.6 per cent to 2,266. Shares in Spark New Zealand Limited
(ASX:SPK) have fallen 1.18 per cent, trading at $2.52. Shares in Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS) fell while M2 Group Limited
(ASX:MTU) is slightly higher.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,145 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7415
