Following a strong lead from Wall St, the Australian share market has lifted 0.5 per cent at noon, boosted by the banks following some healthy first half profit reports. Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) has today posted a record first half profit, following on from National Australia Bank Ltd's
(ASX:NAB) better than expected result yesterday. The major are all making gains, lifting over 2 per cent in early trade, before easing slightly.
The S&P/ASX200 index has risen 20 points and is 4,911 at noon. On the futures market the SPI up 14 points.
Economic news: The Westpac-Melbourne Institute has shown that consumer sentiment moderately lifted in February, after a sleep decline the month before when Queensland’s flooding crisis was peaking. In January the index fell 5.7 per cent to 104.6 points. While the latest read lifted 1.9 per cent to 106.6 points, still under the average read delivered in 2010.
Company news: Railway operator QR National (ASX:QRN) is gearing up to cut up to a third of its workforce under a voluntary redundancy scheme, according to the Australian Associated Press. The news comes only three months after QR National was privatised and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, having previously been owned by the Queensland government. A QR National spokesperson has told AAP that it employs 3,500 people who may be eligible to apply under the redundancy scheme. Shares in QR National have lifted 1.01 per cent and are trading at $2.99 at noon.
Ansell Ltd (ASX:ANN) says it has lifted its first half net profit 5 per cent to $64.2 million for the six months to 31 December. The gloves and condoms manufacturer says it was a challenging period, as the company faced a rise in key raw material costs and was impacted by currency movements. The company has confirmed its earnings per share guidance range of between 86 to 91 US cents and also, declared an interim dividend of 14 cents per share. Shares in Ansell have slipped 0.44 per cent and are trading at $13.66 at noon.
Market indices: The best performing sector is Financials Excluding Real Estate Investment Trusts with the index advancing 62 points to 5,393. Shares in ANZ Bank have risen 1.97 per cent to $24.90. Shares in Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are also higher at midday. The worst performing sector is Consumer Staples, dropping 34 points to 7,873. Shares in Foster’s Group have fallen 0.7 per cent and are $5.70. Shares in Coca Cola Amatil and Woolworths are also lower at midday.
To New Zealand: The NZSX50 is up 4 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover, Telecom of New Zealand is at the top of the list with stock is up 0.92% to $2.20; followed by ANZ, Fletcher Building and Westpac.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $US1,364 an ounce and the Australian dollar is buying $US1.0148.
