Australian Stock Market Report – Afternoon 9/26/13

AFTERNOON REPORT
(5pm AEST)

The Australian share market has managed to finish higher for a second consecutive session, despite another night of selling on Wall Street and generally weaker sentiment across the Asian region. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished the day's trade up 18 points or 0.3 per cent to 5288.2pts.

Mining players did most of the heavy lifting, with the materials sector firmer by 0.8 per cent.

Telstra (TLS) shares were also well supported, up 0.6 per cent to $4.96, a day after the telco announced it would be cutting 1100 jobs by June next year.

In company news, Whitehaven Coal (WHC) has won the latest court battle over its new coal mine in northern New South Wales. The Federal Court has thrown out a bid by an environmental group to stop work at the Maules Creek mine near Narrabri. WHC shares rose 0.5 per cent today to $2.02.

The directors of Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory (WCB) today rejected Bega Cheese's (BGA) $319 million takeover offer as inadequate. WCB directors said the bid did not reflect the true value for shares or the strategic value of the business to Bega. BGA was offering $2 cash and 1.2 Bega shares for each WCB share. BGA already owns 18% of WCB. BGA shares rose 1.8 per cent today to $3.45 while WCB rose 1.3 per cent to $6.18.

In economic news, job vacancies rose by 3.2 per cent over the three months to August. However they are down 20pct on a year ago. CBA expects the pace of jobs growth is expected to slow down over the next few months, with unemployment rising to 6 per cent.

On the market overall, a total of 1.5 billion shares changed hands, worth $3.9 billion. 500 rose, 422 fell and 337 were unchanged.

The Australian dollar was buying US93.78c by the close of the day's trade.

Ahead tonight, economic growth (GDP) figures are released in the US along with weekly jobless claims and pending home sales.

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