Midday: Aus shares up

Market Reports

Aussie shares are just over 0.2 per cent up at midday, after Wall St reached a four month high overnight. Locally gains are being driven in the consumer discretionary sector.

The S&P/ASX200 index is up 14 points at 4,645 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 18.

To company news: Transfield Services Ltd (ASX:TSE) has secured $240 million of work with existing blue chip clients across Australia and New Zealand. Managing Director and CEO Peter Goode says the extensions and new contracts allows Transfield to benefit by providing a range of services to key sectors with strong growth prospects. Among the work confirmed, Transfield says it has gained a two year $80 million extension of its existing 14 year relationship Sydney Water. Shares Transfield Services are 1.63% up at $3.75.

SMS Management & Technology Ltd (ASX:SMX) has announced it will purchase systems integration firm Renewtek Pty Ltd. The company says Renewtek has a strong sales pipeline in markets where SMS is already delivering other services. SMS is expecting the acquisition will strengthen its foothold in the financial services sector and generate additional revenue of $17.3 million. Shares in SMS Management & Technology are 2.77% up at $6.68.

Turning now to market indices: Most sectors are in the black at noon. The best performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, with the index up 14 points to 1,580. Shares in Photon Group are up 6.06% to $0.105. Shares in Newscorp and West Australian Newspapers Holdings are also higher. The worst performing sector at midday is Telco Services sector, with the index down 7 points to 948. Shares in Enerji dropped 13.04% to $0.02. Shares in iiNet and Telstra are also lower at midday.

To New Zealand now, the NZSX50 is 33 points higher. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Fletcher Building heads the list with stock up 2.35% at $8.70 followed by; Telecom of New Zealand, Sky City Entertainment Group and Pyne Gould Corporation. Gold is trading at $1278 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 94.66 US cents.

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