After a very long Easter weekend the Australian sharemarket opened slightly higher today after a robust finish from Wall Street, but is now slightly lower at midday following the CPI figure release. The S&P/ASX200 index has dropped by 6 points and is 4,907 at noon. On the futures market the SPI is 4 points lower.
In economic news, Australia’s consumer price index jumped 1.6 per cent in the March quarter. The rise is above market forecasts, which were dismal on the back of Queensland’s natural disasters. Fruit and vegetable prices recorded the largest spikes, and fuel prices jumped 8.8 per cent.
Looking at company news, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has signed a joint venture to explore for copper in Chile. The venture is signed with Chinalco, who is also the largest shareholder of Rio. Meanwhile, Tata Steel says they will continue to hold onto its 27 per cent stake in Riversdale, despite CSN accepting Rio’s offer for its 19.9 per cent stake last week. Shares in Rio Tinto are up by 0.02 per cent at noon and are trading at $84.12.
The Australian Power and Gas Company Ltd (ASX:APK) is expecting underlying profit to rise almost four-fold. The company says it has seen new accounts grow at some of the fastest rates in the industry, and is expecting profit in 2010/2011 to be about $10-12 million. The increase for the Victoria-based company, who has expanded into NSW and Queensland, will be up from $3.5 million. Shares in Australian Power and Gas Company are up by 13.04 per cent and are trading at $0.52.
The best performing sector is Real Estate Investment Trusts, adding 3 points to 873. Shares in Australand have gained 2.62 per cent and trading at $3.13. Shares in BWP Trust and MIRVAC have also improved at midday. The worst performing sector is Consumer Staples which is down by 47 points to 7,920. Shares in Goodman have fallen 2.5 per cent and trading at $1.17. Shares in Fosters and Metcash have also eased at noon.
The NZSX50 has gained 7 points.The top four stocks by turnover have Fletcher Building at the top of the list, with stocks down by 0.44 per cent at $9.15. This is followed by Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, Guinness Peat Group, and Trust Power.
Gold is trading at $US1,508 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is buying$US1.08 cents, after this morning's high of $1.853.
