Negative leads and bearish global growth outlooks have pushed the Australian share market 0.4 down at noon. Local stocks have retreated from a 15 month high hit yesterday and followed Wall Street lower amid muted expectations for the upcoming US earnings season.
The S&P/ASX 200 index has pulled back 19 points and is sitting at 4,486. On the futures market the SPI is 23 point lower.
Economic news
A read on consumer confidence has lifted for the second straight month. The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment, a poll of 1200 people, lifted 1 per cent to 99.2 in October from 98.2 the month before but remains below 100 indicating pessimists outweigh optimists.
Company news GR Engineering Services Limited
(ASX:GNG) and St. Barbara Limited
(ASX:SBM) have reached an agreement to settle arbitration proceedings launched by GR last year. GR launched the case to recover costs and damages relating to a construction contract at the Gold Ridge mine in the Soloman Islands. Shares in GR Engineering Services have risen 4.84 per cent and are trading at $0.97.
Gold One International Limited
(ASX:GDO) has dismissed more than 1,400 workers from a total 1,900 work force employed at its Ezulwini operation in South Africa. The dismissal comes after a week of what the dual listed gold producer has labelled as illegal strike action which is understood to be salary-motivated. Shares in Gold One International last traded at $0.38.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector is health care gaining 61 points to 10,736. Shares in Acrux Limited
(ASX:ACR) have risen 1.52 per cent and trading at $3.35. Shares in CSL Limited
(ASX:CSL) are higher while shares in ResMed Inc.
(ASX:RMD) are lower.
The worst performing sector is industrials, falling 26 points to 3,384. Shares in NRW Holdings Limited (ASX) have fallen 4.51 per cent, trading at $1.91. Shares in SAI Global Limited
(ASX:SAI) and QR National
(ASX:QRN) are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,762 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US1.019.
