Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 11/26/13

MIDDAY REPORT
(12.30pm AEDT)

The Australian share market is flat at lunchtime in the East, despite another record high from blue chip stocks on Wall Street overnight. The US Dow Jones Index was slightly firmer while the broader share market was slightly lower and the NASDAQ reached above the 4000 point level during trade for the first time since the year 2000.

Financial stocks are among the best performers on our market, with the sector firmer by 0.3 per cent. Utilities are also stronger, up 0.6 per cent.

There has been a switch out of the mining players. Shares in Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) are lower by 1.4 per cent to $5.74 while Rio Tinto (RIO) is weaker by 0.7 per cent to $64.94.

In company news, supermarket giant Woolworths (WOW) has been updating shareholders at the company's AGM. WOW has announced that Chief Financial Officer Tom Pockett will step down in February after 11 years in the job. He will be replaced by David Marr, the company's current General Manager of Corporate Finance.

Gaming company Aristocrat Leisure (ALL) has missed FY13 sales estimates, although its full year profit rose by almost 17 per cent. ALL's NPAT came in at $107.2 million for the 12 months to September 30, up from $91.7 million for the same period last year. ALL shares are down 2.6 per cent in early trade to $4.645.

On the market overall, a total of 871 million shares have so far changed hands, worth $1.6 billion. 413 shares are up in early trade, 377 are down and 300 are unchanged.

The Australian dollar is nudging back towards US92c following a speech from Deputy Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe in Sydney this morning. Speaking on productivity and infrastructure Mr Lowe was not overly bearish on the Aussie dollar and also warned the Australian economy faces a substantial challenge "if we want to achieve anything like the type of growth ... we have been used to."

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