Aussie shares are down one per cent at noon following a weak lead from Wall St. Local shares have moved into the red, with losses being driven by the banks.
The S&P/ASX200 index is down 46 points at 4,599 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is down 60.
In economic news: The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports building approvals in Australia dropped to 13,049 units in August, representing a 4.7 per cent fall from the month before, and the fourth drop in the past five months. The ABS also reports total Australian job vacancies were up 9.8 per cent from the previous quarterly survey, coming in at 181,000 for the three months to August. RP Data-Rismark’s capital city home value index showed little changed in Australian home prices, falling just 0.2 per cent in August, after a rise of 0.4 per cent in July.
To company news: Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX:QAN) has posted an increase in passenger numbers, up 8.5 per cent in the twelve months to August this year. The airline says revenue seat factor fell 0.9 per cent in the period to 79.6 per cent, while revenue passenger kilometers rose by 6.8 per cent as did available seat kilometers, up 7.7 per cent. Shares in Qantas are 1.45% up at $2.80.
Goodman Fielder Ltd’s (ASX:GFF) subsidiary Goodman Fielder New Zealand is considering a $NZ 250 million bond sale to the New Zealand public. The sale is expected to open at the end of October and will consist of NZ$175 million in senior unsecured fixed rate bonds, with an option to accept a further $75 million in oversubscriptions. The funds raised are expected to be put towards repaying bank debt of the Goodman Fielder group. Shares in Goodman Fielder are 1.12% down at $1.325.
Market indices: The sector with the smallest losses is Materials, with the index down 70 points to 12,487. Shares in Sundance Resources are up 6.38% to $0.25. Shares in Murchison Metals and Fortescue Metals Group and are also higher. The worst performing sector at midday is Financials Excluding Real Estate Investment Trusts, with the index down 75 points to 5,126. Shares in Lend Lease have fallen 2.32% to $7.58. Shares in Westpac and ASX are also lower at midday.
To New Zealand: The NZSX50 is down 25 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Fletcher Building is at the top of the list with stock down 3.83% at $8.03 followed by; Infratil, Telecom of New Zealand and ANZ.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1307 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 96.87 US cents.
