Local stocks are trading 0.4 per cent down at noon after Wall Street back-flipped into the red following the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve. Fears America’s central bank will wind back its economic stimulus measures sooner than later continue to unnerve investors.
The minutes put further pressure on the price of gold with the precious metal having already lost about 26 per cent since the start of the year. The ripple effect has slammed the local gold sector down more than 3 per cent while the only major sectors trading higher are energy and utilities.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 index has retreated 17 points to 5,291. On the futures market the SPI is 14 points lower.
Company news
Shares in Unilife Corporation (ASX:UNS, NASDAQ:UNIS) have surged 36.27 after the US-based developer and commercial supplier of injectable drug delivery systems inked a 15-year supply deal with Hikma Pharmaceuticals which includes a $US40 million up-front payment.
Shares in Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) have slipped 0.72 per cent despite a new report from RFi named the bank the best lender globally at getting customers to use CBA as their ‘main bank.’ National Australia Bank Limited
(ASX:NAB) and Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) also scored top 10 positions while ANZ Banking Group
(ASX:ANZ) came in the 11th spot.
Shares in DEXUS Property Group
(ASX:DXS) have dipped 1.17 per cent after defending its takeover offer for Commonwealth Property Office Fund
(ASX:CPA) following GPT Group’s
(ASX:GPT) surprise counterbid earlier this week and claiming it will not support GPT’s plan to divest assets from the fund.
Shares in Mirvac Group
(ASX:MGR) have fallen 0.6 per cent after the diversified property group priced $506 million through a US private placement note issuance which was four times oversubscribed from the initial target.
Best and worst performers
Most sectors are trading lower. Stronger energy and oil prices have lifted energy to the best performer – shooting up 79 points to 13,404. Shares in Horizon Oil Limited
(ASX:HZN) have risen 5.08 per cent and trading at $0.31. Shares in Karoon Gas Australia Limited
(ASX:KAR) and Aurora Oil & Gas Limited
(ASX:AUT) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is consumer staples, falling 36 points to 10,029. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil Limited
(ASX:CCL) have eased 0.66 per cent, trading at $12.09. Shares in Metcash Limited
(ASX:MTS) and Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
The price of gold and the Australian dollar have dropped following the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve which fuelled speculation America’s economic stimulus program could start to be pulled back.
Gold dropped $15 overnight and is now sitting at $US1,248 an ounce.
The Australian dollar lost half a US cent following the release of minutes and has fallen further to be buying $US0.9327 at noon.
