Australian Stock Market Report

MIDDAY REPORT (12.30pm AEDT)

After a less than ideal start to the trading week yesterday, Australian shares are rising modestly. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is up 0.2 pct or 10.7 pts to 4346. Most of the larger sectors are currently improving with the S&P/ASX 200 Materials index up 0.4 pct while the S&P/ASX 200 Financials index is 0.3 pct or 12.1 pts higher to 4066.6.

The mining sector makes up more than 25 pct of the Australian sharemarket and is helping the broader market remain in positive territory. RIO Tinto (RIO) is up 1.24 pct or 85 cents to $69.65 while BHP Billiton (BHP) is 0.27 pct or 10 cents higher to $37.80.

The big four banks are also improving, with ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) 1.6 pct or 34 cents higher to $21.52 ahead of the company going ex-dividend on Thursday this week. Westpac (WBC) is up 0.81 pct or 17 cents to $21.27, National Australia Bank (NAB) is 0.71 pct or 18 cents higher to $25.36 while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is 0.45 pct or 22 cents stronger to $49.54.

Shopping centre owner Westfield (WDC) today has confirmed that it is on track to meet its profit goals this year. WDC is one of the largest owners of shopping centres anywhere in the world and is up 0.78 pct or 6 cents to $7.78. In Australia, almost 100 pct of its shopping centre floor space has been leased out which is more than in the U.S and the U.K. Rent has also increased by close to 4 pct over the quarter showing that businesses are willing to pay more to remain in their current stores.

Following the start of daylight savings at the start of October, major Asian markets will be trading between the hours mentioned below until April next year (note that over the next month, some of the times might be slightly off due to several countries in the region changing their clocks at differing periods).

The Hong Kong sharemarket trades in two sessions each day and will now open for trade between 1pm (AEDT) and 3.30pm (AEDT) while the second session is between 5.30pm (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 (AEDT) and 3.30pm (AEDT) for the first session and then between 5pm (AEDT) and 8pm (AEDT) for the second.

Asian markets are mostly lower, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 0.33 pct or 29.19 pts to 8737.9 while South Korea's KOSPI index is largely flat.

On the economic front today, the results of the monthly survey on business confidence was released. Despite it being the first positive reading in three months, businesses across the country are still not in high spirits. The monthly trade surplus came in at a lower than expected $2.5 billion. More information will be provided in the market close report this afternoon.

So far in trade at lunch, 722 million shares have been traded worth $1.63 billion. 457 shares are up, 355 are lower and 323 are currently unchanged.

The Australian dollar (AUD) is lower and buys US103.5 cents.

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.

Steve Daghlian, CommSec Market Analyst

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