MIDDAY REPORT
(12.00pm AEST)

The Australian sharemarket is falling back today, wiping out yesterday's modest improvement. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down 0.3 pct or 13.9 pts to 4569.3. Most sectors are trading lower with the exception of the energy, mining and telecommunication sectors.

The country's largest miner, BHP Billiton (BHP) is down 0.21 pct or 9 cents to $43.54 while the more iron ore focused RIO Tinto (RIO) is losing 0.73 pct or 59 cents to $80.36.

RIO is the world's second largest supplier of iron ore, was first listed on the ASX in 1961 and has a market capitalisation of $35 billion. This is about three times the size of the Australian listing of media giant Newscorp (NWS).

Australia's big four banks are all losing ground, with National Australia Bank (NAB) once again the worst performer down 1.09 pct or 26 cents to $23.49. Westpac (WBC) is down 0.95 pct or 20 cents to $23.50, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is 0.75 pct or 37 cents weaker to $49.23 and ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is off by 0.66 pct or 14 cents to $21.01. The NAB has fallen by close to 6.5 pct this week.

With the price of gold hitting a fresh all time high, the largest producers of the precious metal are performing strongly. Australia's largest gold miner, Newcrest Mining (NCM) is up 1.85 pct or 72 cents to $39.70.

The price of oil rose slightly overnight and the energy players are managing to put together some slight gains. Australia's second largest oil and gas company, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) is up 0.12 pct or 5 cents to $40.08.

Following the end of daylight savings in April this year, major Asian markets will be trading between the hours mentioned below until mid October.

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now be opening for trade between 11.30am (AEST) and 2pm (AEST) and then between 3.30pm (AEST) and 6pm (AEST) in its second session.

Out of Japan, the first session will be between 10am (AEST) and 12pm (AEST), while the second session is between 1.30pm (AEST) and 4pm (AEST).

The Singapore exchange will be open for trade between 11am (AEST) and 2.30pm (AEST) for the first session and then between 4pm (AEST) and 7pm (AEST) in its second session.

The Asian sharemarkets are mixed at lunch, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 0.41 pct or 40.9 pts to 9922.24 and South Korea's KOSPI index is 0.67 pct or 14.21 pts lower to 2115.43. China's Shanghai Composite index is 0.43 pct or 12.06 pts higher to 2807.54 while shares in the Philippines and Taiwan are slightly stronger.

It will be a relatively quiet day on the economic front, however the latest inflation expectations and some detailed employment numbers will be released today.

The best performing stock at lunch is Acclaim Exploration (AEX), which is up 33.33 pct or 0.1 cent to 0.4 cents. AEX is a mineral exploration company first listed in 1984 and has a market capitalisation of $6.8 million.

So far today, 1 billion shares have been traded worth $1.91 billion. 449 shares are up, 387 are lower and 320 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar is weaker and buys US107.7 cents.

Steven Daghlian
Commsec Market Analyst