A negative lead from Wall St overnight and weaker commodities prices has put pressure on the local market which is trading lower at midday dragged down by declines in resource stocks.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 22 points lower at 4,939 and on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 23.
In economic news: Data released by the ABS shows that the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.3% in March, as expected. The result, which follows the RBA’s decision to lift rates by 25 basis points to 4.25% on Tuesday, is being seen as a good sign that Australia’s job market is firming.
In company news: According to a report in The Australian, Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) has confirmed that it will abandon an exclusive telecommunications and internet services deal with Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX:TLS) in an effort to cut costs. The paper says following a review the grocery retailer has decided to seek individual suppliers for its communications needs. Tenders for the services have closed and Woolies is expected to make an announcement regarding the successful bidders in coming months. Woolworths shares gained 0.28% to $28.56.
Wine maker Australian Vintage Ltd (ASX:AVG) has ended talks with US wine and spirits maker Constellation Brands regarding the potential merger of the two company’s Australian and British wine operations. Chairman Ian Ferrier says the decision was mutual after it became clear that a number of goals set by the two companies could not be reached. Mr Ferrier says Australian Vintage is in good financial shape with its lowest debt level in nine years, saying the company will continue to manage the business through the cycle and look at all opportunities as conditions improve. The company will provide a market update on vintage throughput in early May. Shares in Australian Vintage fell 7.41% to $0.25.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Telco Services index, up 12 points at 1,047. Shares in iiNet added 5.82% to $2.91. Shares in Amcom Telecommunications and Telstra are also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector is the Materials index, down 141 points to 13,126. Shares in Indophil Resources declined 3.28% to $1.18, while shares in Aquarius Platinum and Aditya Birla are also lower.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is down 17 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: At the top is Telecom of New Zealand stock steady at $2.24 followed by; AMP, Fletcher Building and Auckland Airport.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,147.05 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 92.68 US cents.
