Aussie stocks are higher at midday following a positive lead from Wall St overnight. The major banks led the market up, boosted by a stronger than expected earnings result from Australia’s top investment bank, Macquarie Bank.
However the big miners dragged on the market as fear spread through the sector that a new resource tax could be announced by the Australian Government this Sunday as part of an overhaul of the country’s tax system.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 31 points higher at 4,817, and on the futures market, the SPI200’s up 16.
In economic news: According to data released by the Housing Industry Association today, new home sales increased 0.9% in March following a 5.2% decline in February.
However HIA says the modest lift in new home sales is disappointing given such a big decline the month before, citing the pressure of interest rate rises and uncertainty over future increases in 2010 as the reason.
In company news: Grocery and liquor retailer Woolworths Ltd (ASX:WOW) says third quarter sales rose 4.7% to $12.9 billion compared to $12.33 billion last year. The grocery giant also reiterated its full year earnings guidance for growth of between 8 to 11%. CEO Michael Luscombe says despite the solid third quarter result, lower inflation across food and liquor, the cycling of the Australian Government’s stimulus packages, lower petrol prices and interest rates would see sales grow between 3 and 6% compared to previous forecasts for upper single digits growth. Mr Luscombe says consumer spending has tightened in the quarter reflecting consumer concerns about further interest rate hikes and higher petrol prices than last year. Shares in Woollies rose 0.15% to $26.95.
Airport owner MAp Group (ASX:MAP) says proportionate earnings per share rose 20% to 5.4 cents in the March quarter, compared to the same time last year. The company says earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation after corporate expenses, rose 15.6% to $186.6 million. CEO Kerrie Mather says traffic growth is firmly re-established at all of the company’s major airports and earnings outperformance continues. Ms Mather says the main Airports in MAp’s portfolio delivered a strong first quarter performance, driven by a rebound in passenger numbers, higher loads factors and increased airline capacity. MAp reported a 7.6% growth in passenger numbers across its portfolio of airports. MAp Group shares advanced 0.32% to $3.12.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Real Estate Investment Trust index, up 16 points to 899. Shares in Goodman Group rose 3.6% to $0.72. Shares in Westfield Group and Stockland are also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector at midday is the Consumer Staples index, down 84 points to 7,390. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil dropped 1.67% to $11.17, while shares in Metcash and Foster’s Group are also lower.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 10 points higher. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Telecom of New Zealand heads the list, stock down 0.91% at $2.17. Following the Telco is Telstra, then Fletcher Building and Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,173.60 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 93.04 US cents.
