Following a mixed lead from Wall St overnight Aussie shares are lower at midday, weighed down by National Australia Bank, which saw its share take a tumble after coming out of a trading halt this morning having raised $2 billion.
The S&P/ASX200 index is down 13 points at 4,055 and on the futures market the SPI 200’s down 15 points.
To business news at midday: Macquarie Office Trust (ASX:MOF) says the value of its portfolio declined 10.7 per cent to $4.6 billion, from $5.2 billion at December 31 2008. CEO Adrian Taylor says valuation movements reflect slower economic activity, leading to lower rental levels. Mr Taylor says it also reflects weaker investment demand, which has been exacerbated by restrictive credit markets and more conservative valuation assumptions, especially in relation to vacant space and near-term lease maturities. Macquarie Office Trust shares added 4.55 per cent to $0.23.
Oil producer Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) has reported a 35 per cent fall in revenue for the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago due to a slump in the price of oil. Revenue came in at $484 million, down from $749 million in the same period a year ago, with oil prices falling 43 per cent to $75.66 a barrel. Production in the June quarter fell 4 per cent to 13.4 million barrels of oil equivalent compared to the June 2008 quarter. Santos shares fell 0.47 per cent to $14.75.
Turning now to market indices: One of the best performing sectors at midday is the Energy index up 78 points to 15,101. Shares in Karoon Gas Australia up 8.87 per cent at $11.78. Shares in Centennial Coal and Riversdale Mining are also stronger at noon.
One of the worst performing sectors at midday is the Consumer Staples index down 87 to 6,915. Shares in Woolworths down 2.72 per cent to $26.83. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil and Goodman Fielder are also lower at noon.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 5 points higher. Taking a look at the top five stocks by value on the NZSX50: Telecom of New Zealand is at the top, stock down 0.35 per cent at $2.82, followed by Sky City, Fletcher Building, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Lion Nathan.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is currently trading at $952.80 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 81.73 US cents.
