Aussie shares are modestly higher at midday, following gains on Wall St overnight. Investors remain cautious over the global economic outlook, with the major sectors mixed at noon. The S&P/ASX200 index is up 10 points at 4,369 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 20.
In economic news: In the minutes of the RBA’s July 6 monetary policy meeting said its decision to leave cash rates on hold this month was because the global economy was growing at around trend pace, despite Europe’s debt woes and concerns of a slowing US economy. The RBA says official inflation data due out at the end of the month, will influence its decision on rates next month. To company news: David Jones (ASX:DJS) has agreed to an early termination of its existing Toombul lease with Centro Ltd. The department store says it will instead focus on its larger and more profitable Chermside store, 5km away from the Toombul store in Queensland. David Jones will leave Toombul by early February 2011, 20 months earlier than first arranged. CEO Paul Zahra says the decision to leave Toombul is consistent with the company’s strategy to focus on high value and growth stores, and that David Jones will not incur any costs in respect of the early closure. Shares in David Jones are up 0.66% at $4.58.
Cougar Energy Ltd (ASX:CXY) has today voluntarily suspended its stock from trading, pending an announcement regarding the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management’s decision not to remove its halt on the operation of the company’s Kingaroy pilot plant. The company says that it requires further time to assess the implications of the decision in addition to working capital requirements. Cougar says it must consider all of the issues and uncertainties, and hopes to make a further announcement to the market in relation to its outcome by 3 August 2010. Shares in Cougar Energy last traded at $0.075.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing index is the Consumer Discretionary sector, up 14 points to 1,475. Shares in Aristocrat Leisure are 1.16% higher at $3.48. Shares in News Corporation and JB Hi-Fi are also higher at noon.
The worst performing index is the Energy sector, down 75 points to 14,379. Shares in Arrow Energy dropped 6.7% to $4.665. Shares in Paladin Energy and Woodside Petroleum are also lower at noon.To New Zealand now and the NZSX50 is up 11 points.
Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Fisher & Paykel Healthcare heads the list with stock up 0.34% at $2.98 followed by; Telecom of New Zealand, ANZ and Infratil.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,182.90 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 87.19 US cents.
