The Australian share market is stronger at midday, spiking upwards on labour data figures released at 11.30am this morning.
The S&P/ASX200 index has risen 5 points and is 4,910 at noon. On the futures market the SPI up 5 points.
Economic news: The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the unemployment rate remained steady at 5 per cent in January, but job growth was better than expected. The number of people employed increased by 24,000.
Company news: Operating revenue for Singapore Telecommunications Ltd’s (ASX:SGT) subsidiary Optus totalled $2.38 billion for the three months to December 31. That’s an increase of 3.6 per cent from the previous corresponding period driven by growth in its mobile division. Optus added 88,000 customers in the period, taking its customer base to almost 9 million. Shares in Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (ASX:SGT) have lifted 0.42 per cent and are trading at $2.39 at noon.
Downer EDI Ltd (ASX:DOW) is facing a shareholder class action. The embattled engineering and contracting group has been accused of misleading the market over its Waratah train project. Litigation funder IMF is bank rolling the class action, speculated to be as much as $100 million. Shares in Downer EDI have slipped 2.0 per cent and are trading at $3.93 at noon.
Turning to market indices: The best performing sector is Consumer Staples with the index advancing 42 points to 7,874. Shares in Goodman Fielder have risen 0.8 per cent to $1.26. Shares in Metcash Ltd and Foster’s Group are also higher at midday.
The worst performing sector is Materials, dropping 25 points to 14,296. Shares in Arafura Resources have fallen 1.85 per cent and are $1.325. Shares in Equinox Minerals and Sundance Resources are also lower at midday.
To New Zealand: The NZSX50 is down 17 points.
Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover, Telecom of New Zealand is at the top of the list, stock is down 0.45% to $2.20; followed by ANZ, Fletcher Building and Westpac.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $US1,362 an ounce and the Australian dollar is buying $US1.0111.
