Following negative leads the Australian share market fell sharply at open and is 2 per cent down at noon. Sentiment has been knocked about with concerns Europe’s plan to rescue debt-laden Greece will be jeopardized by the nation’s surprise decision to hold a referendum on the proposed bailout. All sectors have lost value with the financials taking the biggest hit.
The S&P/ASX200 index has tumbled 83 points and is 4,150. On the futures market the SPI is down 91 points.
Economic news
More bleary news has emerged from the housing sector: The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported residential building approvals slumped more than expected, falling 13.6 per cent in September. Year on year building approvals dropped 12 per cent.
Yesterday the ABS reported capital city house prices dropped 1.2 per cent in the September quarter while the Housing Industry Association said new homes sold fell 14 per cent in the September quarter.
Company news
ANZ Banking Group (ASX:ANZ) and National Australia Bank Limited (ASX:NAB) have followed in the footsteps of their rivals, Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX:WBC) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA), and announced they too will pass the the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate cut onto customers. ANZ has mirrored the RBA’s cut and lowered its interest rate on variable rate mortgages by 0.25 percentage points to 7.55 per cent. However, NAB has dropped its own variable mortgage rate by 0.2 points, the smallest cut from all the big four banks. Shares in ANZ have dropped 2.86 per cent and are trading at $20.75.
Property developer Stockland (ASX:SGP) has sold its 50 per cent stake in an office building located in Sydney’s CBD for $172.2 million. 52 Martin Place comprises of 33-floors and has been sold to the joint owner, QIC Global, who will now gain full ownership. The value of the sale was more than the assets book value of $167.7 million, as at June 30, 2011. Shares in Stockland have fallen 1.92 per cent and are trading at $3.07.
Best and worst performers
All sectors have retreated: The sector with the smallest losses is Utilities, down 26 points to 4,271. Shares in EnviroMission have added 3.33 per cent and trading at $0.031. Shares in Duet Group and SP AusNet have also firmed. The worst performing sector is Financials Excluding Real Estate Investment Trusts have shed 127 points to 4,596. Shares in Perpetual have dropped 4.09 per cent and trading at $21.12. Shares in Macquarie Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation have also back-peddled.
New Zealand
The NZSX50 has fallen 38 points. Taking a look at the top four stocks by turnover, Telecom Corporation of New Zealand is at the top of the list with stock easing 0.39 to $2.56 followed by Fletcher Building, Auckland International Airport, and AMP.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,718 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US1.0295 cents.
