Midday: Aus shares steady as miners weigh

Market Reports

Following negative offshore leads the Australian share market is steady at noon, with resource stocks weighing on the local bourse. The major miners are all down, with Rio Tinto Ltd's (ASX:RIO) subsidiary, Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ASX:ERA) tumbling over 10 per cent after it forecast a first half loss.

The S&P/ASX200 index has lifted 1 point and is 4,900 at noon. On the futures market the SPI is 1 point lower.

Economic news: A key gauge of Australian consumer confidence has shown optimism lifted slightly in April. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute index gained 1.2 per cent to 105.3 in April, though still failed to make up the falls from the month before.

Company news:  Webjet Ltd (ASX:WEB) has confirmed it expects to deliver a full year profit of around $10.5 million after reporting a strong third quarter result. In the three months to 31 March the online travel agent says profit before tax grew 8 per cent to $3.9 million, with Australian operation positing a 14 per cent improvement in the quarter. Webjet says both Australian and New Zealand operations have performed strongly, its Asian business is trading in line with expectations and its US operation has moved to profit. Shares in Webjet have slipped 0.49 per cent and are trading at $2.05 at noon.

Fortescue Metals Group Ltd’s (ASX:FMG) executive director Russell Scrimshaw will retire from his role at the end of the financial year. The iron ore miner advises that Mr Scrimshaw will stay on as a non-executive director and also provide on-going advisory services. CEO Andrew Forrest says appropriate organisational announcements concerning Mr Scrimshaw’s retirement will be made in due course. Shares in Fortescue Metals Group have dipped 0.61 per cent at noon and are trading at $6.50.

Best and worst performers: The best performing sector is Industrials, rising 27 points to 3,735. Shares in Hastie Group have improved 10.2 per cent and trading at $0.27, after falling over 70 per cent yesterday. Shares in Qantas Airways and Emeco Holdings have also gained at midday. The worst performing sector is Materials falling 117 points to 14,628. Shares in White Energy have declined 10.86 per cent and trading at $2.79, after the coal technology company yesterday pulled out of its bid for Cascade Coal. Shares in Alcoa and PanAust are also lower at noon.

New Zealand: The NZSX50 is flat. Taking a look at the top four stocks by turnover, Fletcher Building is at the top of the list with stock down 0.11 per cent at $9.37 followed by ANZ, Westpac and Telecom Corporation of New Zealand.

Gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at $US1,454 an ounce. The Aussie dollar is buying $US1.046 cents.  


Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter?

Would you like to receive our daily news to your inbox?