Following a rally on Wall St overnight where the Dow Jones hit its highest level in over a year, Aussie shares are stronger at midday with rising copper, gold and oil prices helping to boost mining and energy stocks like top miner BHP and energy company Woodside Petroleum.
The S&P/ASX200 index is up 68 points at 4,861 and on the futures market the SPI 200’s up 60 points.
In economic news: The ABS has released data showing that Australia’s international merchandise imports increased 14 per cent to $17.6 billion in September from $15.5 billion in August.
Making headlines at midday: Grocery retail giant Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) has announced first quarter sales of $13.4 billion, an increase of 4.2 per cent compared to last year. CEO Michael Luscombe says discretionary spending will continue to be influenced by macro-economic factors, such as interest rates, petrol prices and confidence around employment. As such Mr Luscombe says consumer confidence levels and therefore spending is very difficult to predict for the fiscal year 2010. Woolies says it maintains its full year outlook for group sales to grow in the upper single digits. Woolworths shares fell 0.52 per cent to $30.36.
Implantable hearing device manufacturer Cochlear Ltd (ASX:COH) says the outlook for Cochlear’s business is positive. Chairman Tommie Bergman told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that although the world economy may still be characterized by uncertainty, in the financial year 2010, the outlook for Cochlear’s business is positive. Mr Bergman says with the release of a comprehensive range of exciting new products, the company is well positioned to continue with its history of growth and market leadership. He says record investments in research and development and ongoing investment in growth initiatives and internal capabilities will support Cochlear’s positive development. Cochlear shares rose 1.11 per cent to $64.61.
Turning now to market indices: All sectors are in positive territory at midday, however the sector with the biggest gain is the Materials index which gained 204 points to 11,964. Shares in Moly Mines advanced 12.65 per cent to $1.38. Shares in Perseus Mining and Troy Resources are also higher at noon.
The sector with the smallest gain at midday is the Telco Services index, up 8 points at 1,092. Shares in BigAir Group lost 18.75 per cent to $0.13. Shares in IINet and Macquarie Telecom are also lower.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is up 33 points. Taking a look at the top five stocks by turnover on the NZSX50: Topping the list is Telecom of New Zealand, stock up 2.37 per cent at $2.59, followed by Fletcher Building, South Canterbury Finance, Sky City and Rakon.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $1063.50 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 92.87US cents.
