Aussie shares are lower at midday following falls on overseas markets overnight in response to a possible debt crisis in Dubai with investors opting to exit riskier assets. Dubai government’s flagship holding company, Dubai World has asked bondholders for a standstill on around US$60 billion in debt until May. Fears have ripples through global markets that the move could constitute an actual default.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 114 points lower at 4,595 and on the futures market the SPI 200’s down 117 points.
In company news: Information technology provider Macquarie Telecom Group Ltd (ASX:MAQ) says it expects to deliver earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the first half of fiscal 2010 of between $11 million and $13 million. Chairman Robert Kaye says the foundations to deliver future growth and profitability has been completed and are being reflected in the company’s financial results. Mr Kaye says in the year ahead the company will focus on the execution of its strategies to grow its higher margin Data and Hosting businesses and continue to deliver exceptional service to its customers. Shares in Macquarie Telecom Group are steady at $4.
Whitegoods, personal computers and furniture products retailer Thorn Group Ltd (ASX:TGA), formerly Radio Rentals, has reported a 36.2% rise in first half profit of $8 million up from $5.8 million in the previous year. Revenue rose 15.3% to $73 million from $63.3 million recorded in the same period last year. The company also reaffirmed its forecast for normalized profit after tax of between $14.3 million and $14.8 million for the year to March 31 2010. Shares in Thorn Group lost 1.03 per cent to $0.96.
Turning now to market indices: All sectors are in the red at midday, however the sector with the smallest loss is the Telco Services index down 5 points to 1,157. Shares in Eftel advanced 16.67% to $0.035. Shares in BigAir Group are higher while shares in Pipe Networks are steady.
The worst performing sector at midday is the Materials index, down 328 points to 12,056. Shares in Mirabela Nickel fell 5.45% to $2.60. Shares in Aquarius Platinum and Cudeco are also lower at noon.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 39 points lower. Looking at the top 5 stocks by turnover on the NZSX50: Telecom of New Zealand tops the list with stock down 0.83% at $2.40, followed by Telstra, Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Fletcher Building and Westpac.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,187.90 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 90.72 US cents.
