Aussie shares are higher at midday following across the board gains, with strength in financials, property trusts and consumer staples.
The S&P/ASX200 index is up 23 points at 4,509 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 9. To company news: Oil Search Ltd (ASX:OSH) says oil and gas production has dropped to 1.94 million barrels of oil equivalent for the three months to June, down from the prior quarter’s 2 million barrels. The energy producer says the lower production was due to a scheduled maintenance shutdown, testing of key wells and lower output from ageing oil fields. Oil Search says cash operating costs for the first half of 2010 are anticipated to be lower than guidance for the full year of $US16 to $US18 per barrel, with production guidance remaining the same at 7.2 and 7.4 million barrels. Shares in Oil Search are up 1.03% at $5.90
Aluminium producer Alcoa (ASX:AAI) has priced $1 billion in aggregate notes, with net proceeds of around $993 million expected. The proceeds together with cash on hand will be used to buy back existing debt maturities. Shares in Alcoa are steady at $12.75
Turning now to market indices: Most indices are in the black at midday. The best performing index is the Telco Services sector, up 11 points to 1,099. Shares in Enerji are 7.14% higher at $.03. Shares in Telstra Corporation are higher, and shares in Singapore Telecommunications are flat at noon.
The worst performing index is the Materials sector, down 7 points at 12,024. Shares in Lihir Gold dropped 1.22% to $4.06. Shares in Incitec Pivot and Alumina are lower at noon.
To New Zealand now and the NZSX50 is down 3 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Telecom of New Zealand heads the list with stock down 1.52% at $1.94 followed by; Sky City Entertainment, Fisher and Paykel Appliances and Fletcher Building.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1,185.65 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 90.15 US cents.
