The Australian share market has slipped to the negative side of flat at midday, after posting a weak start on a soft Wall Street performance and mixed leads from Europe.
The S&P/ASX 200 index has lost 9 points and is 4,279. On the futures market the SPI is 3 points lower.
Company news
Transurban Limited
(ASX:TCL) chief executive Chris Lynch has announced his resignation, with effect from July. He says the company’s in excellent shape, and the time is right for him to step down. Chairman Lindsay Maxsted says Transurban has a comprehensive succession plan in place. Shares in Transurban have taken a tumble and are down 0.72 per cent to $5.53.
Wesfarmers Limited
(ASX:WES) retail operations could outperform Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW), according to analyst predictions. Deutsche Bank is tipping Woolies to report a two per cent rise in food and liquor sales but a three per cent decline in revenue from its Big W. Woolies will unveil its quarterly reports tomorrow and Wesfarmers on Wednesday. Wesfarmers shares are 1.06 per cent lower at $30.01.
Best and worst performers
Telco Services is up 2 points to 1,135. Shares in Singtel are up 0.88 per cent at $2.30. Shares in iiNet are higher and Telstra are flat.
The worst performing sector is consumer staples, losing 59 points to 7,326. Shares in Quickflix are 1.14 per cent lower, trading at 8.7 cents. Fairfax is lower, as is Ten Network Holdings on news Seven chairman Kerry Stokes has sold his recently-purchased two per cent stake.
New Zealand
The NZSX50 4 points higher. Taking a look at the top four stocks by turnover, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare has had the most volume traded, but it’s flat at $2.13, followed by Telecom Corporation of New Zealand, Fletcher Building and Chorus.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,736 an ounce and the Australian dollar is buying $US1.0619.
