Despite a strong lead from Wall Street overnight on the back of a jump in the oil price, the Australian share market plunged into the red at the open and is tracking 0.12 per cent lower at noon. The materials and financials sectors are proving to be the biggest drag on the market so far with losses in the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto, as well as across all of the big four banks. The energy space is the star performer so far this session, with modest gains of around 2.5 per cent in the likes of Santos and Origin Energy.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 7 points lower at 5,364. On the futures market the SPI is down 8 points.
Company news Transurban Limited
(ASX:TCL) says Transurban Queensland, in which it holds a 62.5 per cent interest, has priced $280 million of senior secured 7 year notes in the Swiss market, under its recently established Euro Medium Term Note Programme. The proceeds from the notes will be swapped into fixed Australian dollars and used to repay existing term bank debt due to mature in July 2017. Shares in Transurban are trading down 0.25 per cent at $11.90.
Sandfire Resources Limited
(ASX:SFR) has advised that the new solar power facility at its 100 per cent owned De Grussa Copper-Gold mine in Western Australia has achieved full generation capacity after attaining key milestones during commissioning. The facility is currently generating around 7MW of power which is in line with seasonal expectations. Shares in Sandfire are trading down 0.17 per cent at $5.80.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is Energy, gaining 2.02 per cent to 8,512. Shares in Liquefied Natural Gas have risen 27.44 per cent and trading at $1.04. Shares in Santos and Origin Energy are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Telcos, falling 1.2 per cent to 2,035. Shares in Spark NZ have fallen 2.95 per cent, trading at $3.29. Shares in Telstra are lower and TPG Telecom are higher.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,248 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7445.
