Despite a lacklustre finish on Wall St overnight, local stocks are higher at midday, albeit slightly, with nearly all sectors trading in the black. Health stocks the best performers at noon.
The S&P/ASX200 index is up 17 points at 4,640 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 16.
To company news: Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) has reported a five per cent increase in production volumes for the third quarter. The rise in output largely driven by the North West Shelf, with record liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas production. However, production fell 11 per cent compared to the same quarter last year as a result of the sale of the company’s interest in the Otway Gas Project. Sales revenue for the third quarter dropped four per cent compared to the previous quarter, but rose 15 per cent compared to the same quarter last year. Shares in Woodside Petroleum are 0.63% lower at $43.88.
A strong Aussie dollar continues to hurt brewer Foster’s Group Ltd (ASX:FGL) wine exports, however the company says wine prices have begun to stabilise. In a briefing to analysts, Foster’s says it will continue try and bolster margins in its wine division by getting customers to take big brand wines that are more expensive. The company knocked back a $2.7 billion offer for its wine business last month but remains open to other interest. Shares in Foster’s Group are steady at $6.10.
Turning now to market indices: Majority of sectors are in the black at noon, the best performing is Health Care, up 51 points to 8,172. Shares in ResMed are up 2.54% to $3.23. While shares in Cochlear and Acrux are also higher at noon.
The worst performing sector at midday is Real Estate Investment Trusts with the index flat at 862. Shares in Dexus Property Group are 0.61% weaker at $0.82. Shares in Westfield Group and Stockland are also lower at noon. To New Zealand now, the NZSX50 is up 11 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Telecom of New Zealand is top of the list with stock up 0.99% at $2.05 followed by; Fletcher Building, ANZ, and Telstra.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $1326 US an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 97.93 US cents.
