Following strong leads the Australian share market has lifted throughout the morning and is almost 1 per cent up at noon. Upbeat US jobs data and higher commodity prices have pushed all sectors into positive territory at noon.
The S&P/ASX200 index has lifted 45 points and is 4,651. On the futures market the SPI is 49 points higher.
Company news
Shares in Cockatoo Coal Ltd (ASX:COK) have jumped after the coal production company said it will sell almost half of its Woori project in Queensland for $37.25 million. The 49 per cent stake has been bought by Japan's Mitsui who will work with Cockatoo as joint venture partners towards the completion of a feasibility study by the end of 2013. Shares in Cockatoo Coal have jumped 7.79 per cent and are trading at $0.415.
BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) has advised that it will resume operations at its its Port Hedland port facility in Western Australia. The news comes one day after the global miner suspended operations after reporting a fatality as a result of "a significant incident". Shares in BHP Billiton have risen 1.1 per cent and are trading at $44.91.
Sectors
All sectors are in positive territory: The best performing sector is Telco Services, rising 16 points to 1,026. Shares in Telstra have advanced 1.7 per cent and trading at $2.99. Shares in Singtel and iiNet are also stronger. The sector with the smallest gains is Health Care adding 49 points to 8,478. Shares in Prima BioMed have eased 3.13 per cent and trading at $0.31. Shares in Pharmaxis and RedMed are also weaker.
New Zealand
The NZSX50 is 3 points higher. Taking a look at the top four stocks by turnover, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand is at the top of the list with stock down 0.4 per cent at $2.51 followed by Fletcher Building, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and Westpac.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,532 an ounce. The Australian dollar is buying $US1.0773 cents.
