The Australian share market is weaker at midday, tracking a late decline on Wall Street as renewed concerns about Greece’s debt problems made investors nervous.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 31 points lower at 4,855 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is down 29.
In company news: Western Areas NL (ASX:WSA) has announced the pricing for $125 million of convertible bonds, due in 2015. The nickel producer says the bonds are to be issued at a premium of about 28% to its last sale price and will pay a coupon of 6.4%. Western Areas will use the proceeds to pay down bank debt to push ahead with exploration and mine development. The company says the offer was significantly oversubscribed, with strong demand from investors in all major capital markets, including the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific. Shares in Western Areas are down 3.47% at $5.
Toll road operator Transurban Group Ltd (ASX:TCL) says it is interested in road assets to be offloaded by the Queensland Government in mid-2011. The government has announced a sale program for Queensland Motorways Ltd, the assets of which include the Gateway and Logan motorways. Transurban believes Queensland Motorways Ltd’s assets could be of interest to a long-term owner and operator. The company is also eyeing off secondary market opportunities in the state, such as the Rivercity Motorway Group and Brisconnections Unit Trusts. Shares in Transurban are down 0.2% at $5.04.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Healthcare index, up 103 points at 9,161. Shares in Ansell rose 1.88% to $12.44. Shares in Cochlear and CSL were also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector is the Energy index, down 180 points to 15,838. Shares in Woodside Petroleum have lost 1.79% to $46.63, while shares in Santos and WorleyParsons are also lower at midday.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 7 points higher. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: First in the list is Telecom of New Zealand, stock is up 0.47% at $2.13, followed by, Fletcher Building, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Sky City Entertainment.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,090.75 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 90.84 US cents.
