With no lead from Wall St after U.S. markets were closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday, the local share market is weaker at midday, weighed down by the miners like top miner BHP on a fall in metal prices and further concerns for a recovery in the global economy.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 54 points lower at 3,774 and on the futures market the SPI 200’s down 37 points.
In economic news: According to a survey by ANZ, job advertisements fell 6.7 per cent in June from May to an average 127,346 a week. Ads fell 51.4 per cent from a year ago.
To business news at midday: Construction and property development company Watpac Ltd (ASX:WTP) says its construction division has won a $62 million RMIT University design hub project. The company says construction on the 12,000 metres squared building located at the north-west corner of Swanston and Victoria Streets, will begin immediately with completion scheduled for mid-2011. Watpac says it is also currently building the $361 million Knowledge Based Research and Business Project in Queensland, and the was recently awarded the $80 million Cochlear Global Headquarters construction contract at Macquarie University, and $50 million Woolworths Data Centre project in NSW. Watpac shares rose 2.4 per cent to $1.28.
Gold miner Bendigo Mining Ltd (ASX:BDG) has acquired the Henty Gold Mine on the West Coast of Tasmania from Barrick Australia. The acquisition of Henty includes the operating underground mine, process plant, infrastructure, mineral tenements and 92 skilled employees. Bendigo will pay $5 million cash, $3 million in Bendigo ordinary shares and a royalty payable on production from future exploration discoveries, capped at $22 million. Bendigo Mining shares dropped 1.85 per cent to 26.5 cents.
Turning now to market indices: majority of sectors are in negative territory at midday, however the sector with the smallest loss is the Consumer Staples index down 43 points to 6,557. Shares in Goodman Fielder are steady at $1.31. Shares in Lion Nathan are also steady while shares in Metcash are slightly lower at noon.
The sector at midday with the biggest loss is the Energy index down 329 points to 13,805. Shares in Karoon Gas Australia are down 4.7 per cent to $8.32. Shares in Santos and Centennial Coal are also lower at noon.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 8 points lower.
Taking a look at the top five stocks by value on the NZSX50: South Canterbury Finance topped the list, stock steady at $44, followed by Telecom of New Zealand, Sky City, Sky Network Television and Fletcher Building.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is currently trading at $930.60 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 79.52 US cents.
