Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 1-11-13

MID-SESSION REPORT
(11.30am AEDT)

This week has been a balanced affair, with shares losing value on Monday and Tuesday only to make up for the losses on Wednesday and Thursday. At lunch, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down just 1.5 pts to 4743.7.

Shares rose yesterday thanks to much stronger than expected economic news issued in China. A US$31.6 billion trade surplus was recorded, exports jumped by over 14 per cent and imports rose by 6 per cent in December. This also helped commodity prices improve but hasn't been enough to lift our miners at lunch. BHP Billiton (BHP) is down by 1.47 per cent or 54 cents to $36.87, while the smaller Rio Tinto (RIO) is down 1.27 per cent or 85 cents to $66.25.

The major banks are mixed but mostly stronger, with National Australia Bank (NAB) up 0.39 per cent or 10 cents to $25.53 while ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is up 0.36 per cent or 9 cents to $25.24. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is down 0.13 per cent or 8 cents to $61.53 while Westpac (WBC) is easing by just 0.06 per cent or 2 cents to $26.58.

Global markets ended mixed overnight, with shares in the U.S edging higher. The DOW rose by 0.6 per cent while the S&P500 index has hit a 5-year high. Shares in Europe lost a bit of ground however. Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England decided to keep rates unchanged (as expected) at 0.75 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.

Toll Road operator, Transurban (TCL) has issued its December quarter (October to December) revenue numbers today. Toll revenue rose to $250 million, a 5.1 per cent rise on the same period in 2011. Despite the improvement, TCL shares are down 0.8 per cent or 5 cents to $6.17. TCL is a $9 billion company (market capitalisation on the Australian market) and is the company behind Victoria's Citylink road, the Hills M2 Motorway, M1 Eastern Distributor, M5 Motorway and the Westlink M7 in NSW.

No major economic news is scheduled for release in Australia today however a number of reports will be issued in the region.

One thing to keep an eye on today however, is data out of China. In China, both consumer and producer inflation numbers are scheduled to be announced. The market is expecting consumer inflation to have risen by 2.3 per cent over the past year while producer inflation is likely to fall by around 1.5 per cent. The lower inflation is, the more likely Chinese officials are to cut rates following strong trade numbers yesterday.

Following the start of daylight savings in October, major markets in the region will be trading between the hours mentioned below until April 2013.

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now open for trade between 12.30pm (AEDT) and 3pm (AEDT) while the second session is between 4pm (AEDT) and 7pm (AEDT).

Out of Japan, the first session will be between 11am (AEDT) and 1pm (AEDT) while the second session is between 2.30pm (AEDT) and 5pm (AEDT).

The Singapore exchange will be open for trade between 12pm and 3.30pm (AEDT) for the first session and then between 5pm and 8pm (AEDT) for the second.

U.S futures are currently pointing to a slightly stronger start to trade tonight. The U.S market trades between 1.30am (AEDT) and 8am (AEDT).

So far in trade at lunch, 663 million shares have been traded worth just $1.09 billion. 391 shares are up, 312 are lower and 391 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar (AUD) is stronger and buys US105.8 cents, €79.7 cents and £65.5 pence. The AUD is trading close to its highest level since March 2012.

The AUD is the world's fifth most traded currency behind the U.S dollar, the Euro, Japanese Yen and British Pound. The AUD accounts for around 7 pct of all foreign exchange trades.

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