The Australian sharemarket has taken heart from an interest rate cut in China and has been led 1.19 per cent higher by a surge in the miners.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 60 points up at 5,364. On the futures market the SPI is 65 points higher.
Company news
Reef Casino Trust
(ASX:RCT) has updated the market on the proposed takeover offer from Aquis Casino Acquisitions saying Aquis cannot further extend the offer. Aquis, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung, had made a bid of $4.35 per unit for Reef Casino Trust, valuing the property trust at more than $200 million and causing the share price to jump from $2.84 to over $4.00. In today’s announcement, Aquis says the QLD Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation cannot grant approval for the offer by the close date of next Friday 28 November and accordingly Aquis will have to let all acceptances of the Offer lapse. Aquis says that the RCT takeover remains important to its overall plans and it will undergo a strategic review with hopes to reconsider the acquisition in 2015. Shares in Reef Casino Trust have plunged 31.92 per cent to $2.73.
Mineral explorer turned miner CuDeco Limited
(ASX:CDU) says its trial ore processing at Glencore-owned Ernest Henry Copper Mine has surpassed expectations. Preliminary results have shown 29.5 per cent copper and 6.7 grams per tonne of gold concentrate achieved from 22,000 tonnes of sulphide primary ore. CuDeco is close to finalising construction of its own Rocklands mineral processing facility in partnership with China state-owned Sinosteel Corporation and has over 1 million tonnes of ore stock piled. Shares in CuDeco are trading down 0.36 per cent at $1.39.
Best and worst performers
All sectors are up across the board, the best performing sector is materials, gaining 3.2 per cent to 9,054. Shares in Fortescue have soared 9.67 per cent and are trading at $2.95. Shares in Arrium and BC Iron are also stronger.
The sector with the least gains is consumer discretionary , up 0.2 per cent to 1,808. Shares in Aristocrat have fallen 1.64 per cent, trading at $6.60. Shares in Ten Network and Pacific Brands are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,202 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying 86.90 US cents.
