Despite a negative lead from Wall St overnight, the local share market was higher on open and is flat at midday supported by takeover activity in coal and sugar and bargain buying as investors hunt for stocks battered last week.
The S&P/ASX200 index is 2 points lower at 4,237 and on the futures market, the SPI200’s down 19.
In economic news: According to ANZ job ads rose 2.7% in June after rising 2.7% in May. Job ads were up 32.2% from June last year.
The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute says its gauge of consumer price inflation rose 0.3% in June after rising 0.5% in May. The annual pace of inflation eased to 3.6% from 3.7% in May.
And the AiG/CBA Performance of Services Index rose 1.3 points to 48.8 in June, below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction.
In company news: Agribusiness Elders Ltd (ASX:ELD) is being investigated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission into its compliance with continuous disclosure obligations after issuing a profit downgrade in June. Elders says ASIC is conducting enquiries related to its recent profit downgrade announcement relating to the financial year ending September 30, 2010. Elders shares have taken a hit recently after the company flagged a full year loss of between $8 and $14 million compared to previous guidance for profit of $55.7 million. Elders says it is co-operating with ASIC in its enquiries. Shares in Elders rose 7.89% to $0.41.
Aussie telco Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX:MAQ) has upgraded its full year earnings guidance. The company says it now expects to post earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation from continuing operations, of between $28 and $29 million. This is an increase of 22% on its result for the same time last year. Macquarie Telecom says its Hosting business has continued to perform strongly and is a key driver of the result. Over the next fiscal year the company says it plans to invest $15 million over its current expenditure run rate to expand its Hosting capacity to support growth in the business. Shares in Macquarie Telecom last traded at $4.50.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector at midday is the Energy index, up 175 points to 13,967. Shares in Centennial Coal Company are 32.35% higher at $5.85. Shares in Whitehaven Coal and Santos are also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector at midday is the Telco Services index, down 6 points to 1,053. Shares in Amcom Telecom dropped 3.33% to $0.29. Shares in Telecom of New Zealand and Telstra are lower at noon.
Looking to New Zealand and the NZSX50 is 8 points higher. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: heading the list is Telecom of New Zealand with stock down 1.09% at $1.82 followed by; Auckland Airport, Fletcher Building, and Sky City Entertainment Group.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,213.65 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 84.41 US cents.
