Aussie stocks are lower at midday following a negative lead from Wall St overnight with weaker commodities weighing on resource stocks like the major miners BHP and Rio Tinto and a fall in retail sales in December dragging on retail stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 39 points lower at 4,609 and on the futures market the SPI200’s down 34 points.
In economic news: According to the ABS building approvals rose 2.2% in December. The bureau also released data showing a 0.7% fall in retail sales also for the month of December.
In company news: Designer and manufacturer of motor vehicle accessories ARB Corporation Ltd (ASX:ARP) says based on unaudited management accounts, sales revenue rose 15.5% for the half year with net profit before tax expected to come in around $21 million. For the same period last year the company reported net profit before tax of $10.48 million. The company says the main reason for the profit increase is the favourable impact of the Federal Government’s investment allowance incentives on ARB’s businesses in Australia. ARB shares rose 3.2% to $5.16.
Provider of building and construction materials Boral Ltd (ASX:BLD) has appointed Mike Kane as President of Boral USA, replacing Emery Severin. Mr Kane joins Boral from Calstar Products where he was CEO. CEO Mark Selway says while the recovery in the US is likely to be slow, Boral has great market positions and will capitalise on the opportunities to grow and increase the company’s competitiveness. Shares in Boral declined 1.43% to $5.52.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Telco Services index up 13 points at 1,162. Shares in Amcom Telecommunications added 1.54% to $0.33. Shares in Telstra and Telecom of New Zealand are also higher.
The worst performing sector at midday is the Materials index, down 206 to 11,969. Shares in Aditya Birla fell 4.41% to $1.085. While shares in James Hardie and Cudeco are also lower at noon.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 4 points higher. Taking a look at the top 5 stocks by turnover: Top of the list is Telecom of New Zealand stock up 0.85% at $2.36 followed by; Sky City Entertainment Group, Fletcher Building, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and Telstra.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,107.85 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 88.01 US cents.
