Aussie stocks are slightly lower at midday, lacking direction from overseas markets, the major miners mixed, but coal stocks are rallying on takeover talk in the sector. Macarthur Coal today received an approach from a third party, widely tipped to be major player Peabody Energy.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 13 points lower at 4,904 and on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 5.
In economic news: According to data released by the ABS today, building approvals fell 3.3% in February from the month before. And retail sales dropped 1.4% also for the month of February.
In company news: James Hardie Industries (ASX:JHX) has been upgraded to BUY at a price target of $8.30 by UBS. The upgrade is despite ongoing uncertainty in the US housing market and a 38% rise in pulp prices, a key component of cement. James Hardie shares gained 1.54% to $7.26.
QBE Insurance (ASX:QBE) says it is in talks with various parties regarding a number of acquisitions and is on track to meet its full year insurance profit margin. However, the insurer says strength in the Aussie dollar could hurt its profits and revenue in 2010. QBE earns three-quarters of its premium income in currencies other than the Australian dollar, with close to 46% in US dollars. Shares in QBE fell 0.95% to $20.85. Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Consumer Staples index, up 35 points at 7,813. Shares in Goodman Fielder rose 1.02% to $1.485. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil and AWB are also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector is the Telco Services index, down 3 points to 1,031. Shares in Enerji dropped 5.66% to $0.05, while shares in Telstra are lower, shares in Singapore Telecommunications are steady.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 14 points higher. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Telecom of New Zealand tops the list stock steady at $2.16 followed by; Skellerup Holdings, Fletcher Building and Contact Energy.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,105.70 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 91.65 US cents.
