The local share market is slightly higher at midday following a positive lead from Wall St overnight, with gains in the miners helping to drive the market higher as gold hit a new record and copper prices firmed.
The S&P/ASX200 index is up12 points at 4,682 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 6.
To company news: ASX Ltd (ASX:ASX) CEO Robert Elstone has indicated his intention to step down from the role when his contract ends in July next year. Chairman David Gonski says the board will begin the search for a new CEO with both internal and external candidates considered. Mr Elstone’s contract will be amended to allow ASX to terminate it so that it ends either three months before or after the 11 of July 2011, giving the board the flexibility to ensure it has the time to find and install a new CEO. Mr Elstone will receive a lump sum payment of $750,000 in return for his flexibility. Shares in ASX are 0.98% lower at $33.19.
Duet Group Ltd (ASX:DUE) has reached a deal to sell its 39 per cent stake in DQE Holdings LLC to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp for US$360 million. CEO Peter Barry says the sale process was highly competitive, attracting strong interest from a number of bidders. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down the company’s corporate debt facility which is currently drawn to $514 million. Following the sale, Duet’s Dampier to Bunbury Pipeline will represent approximately 50 per cent of the company’s asset portfolio. Shares in Duet Group are 0.29% higher at $1.71.
Turning now to market indices: The best performing sector is Materials, with the index up 116 points to 12,657. Shares in Troy Resources are up 4.76% to $3.30. Shares in Intrepid Mines and Lynas Corp are also higher.
The worst performing sector at midday Consumer Staples, with the index down 27 points to 8,368. Shares in Goodman Fielder fell 5.3% to $1.34. Shares in AWB and Coca-Cola Amatil are also lower at midday.
To New Zealand now, the NZSX50 is up just over a point. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Telecom of New Zealand heads the list with stock up 0.98% at $2.06 followed by; Westpac, Fletcher Building, and Sky City Entertainment Group.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $1309 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 96.76 US cents.
