The Australian share market opened lower following mixed leads overseas and currently flat at midday. The miners are down on lower base metal prices.
The S&P/ASX200 index has lost 5 points and is 4,790 at noon. On the futures market the SPI is 7 points lower.
Company news: Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd (ASX:HTA) with a 50 per cent interest in Vodaphone has reportedly fired several staff in New South Wales according to Fairfax Media. The employees have allegedly been let go for breaking into databases to illegally access customer information. It has been reported the company has launched a full investigation to determine if its employees sold customer database passwords to criminals and competitors. Hutchison Telecommunications is steady at $0.096.
Bradken Ltd (ASX:BKN) estimates the disruption to mine production due to flooding in Queensland will reduce mining consumable sales. The company expects the financial impact to be less than half of one percent of total group revenue. The flooding in Ipswich has seen water enter the foundry and will stop operations for up to ten days. Shares in Bradken have fallen 0.54% at noon and are trading at $9.28.
Turning to market indices: The best performing sector is Consumer Staples with the index lifting 99 points to 7,801. Shares in Goodman Fielder have lifted 1.87 per cent to $1.365. Shares in Woolworths and Foster’s Group have also lifted at noon. The worst performing sector at midday is Materials down by 119 points to 14,145. Shares in Avoca Resources have eased 3.76 per cent and are $3.33. Shares in Perilya and Perseus Mining have also dropped at midday.
To New Zealand: The NZSX50 has lost 8 points at noon. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand is at the top of the list with stock 0.87 per cent lower at $2.27; followed by Fletcher Building, Westpac and ANZ.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $US1,375 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is buying 99.7 US cents.
