It looks likely that the Australian share market will finish weaker for the second straight day with the S&P/ASX 200 index off by 0.6pct or 25.5pts to 4498.6. The broader All Ordinaries index (XAO), which is the oldest index of shares in Australia is weaker by 0.5pct or 24.4pts to 4511.8. Here is a little bit of history on the XAO. The index was created in 1980 and restructured in 2000 to consist of the 500 largest Australian companies by market cap. The index accounts for almost all the market cap in on the ASX (around 95%).

Almost all sectors are in the red at lunch with the weakest performances coming from the energy and financial sectors. The major banks have recovered slightly over the last hour or so but still are weaker by between 0.5pct to 1pct. Australia's largest investment bank, Macquarie Group (MQG) is off by 3.75pct or $1.44 to $36.96 after warning that annual earnings could potentially fall at their Annual General Meeting (AGM)this morning.

In the agricultural space, both AWB limited (AWB) and GrainCorp (GNC) have announced plans to merge earlier this morning. GNC said that they will issue 1 GNC share for every 5.75 AWB shares to AWB shareholders. This will in effect create a close to $2 billion agribusiness (in market capitalization). GNC's market cap is the more significant of the two at $1.1 billion and AWB's sits at around $788 million. GNC is expected to hold more than 50pct ownership of the joint company and the joint company will be known as GrainCorp after the merger is completed.

The miners are currently lower by 0.45pct as a sector with the world's third largest miner, RIO Tinto (RIO) down 0.66pct or 47cents to $71.03 and the larger BHP Billiton (BHP) off by 0.47pct or 19cents to $40.27.

On a positive note, the retailers are mostly stronger for the second straight day with department store owner Myer (MYR) up 0.29pct or 1cent to $3.44 and David Jones (DJS) up 0.42pct or 2cents to $4.82. Australia's largest specialty retailer Harvey Norman (HVN) is off however by 2.51pct or 9cents to $3.50.

On the economic front, RP data on housing for the month of June was released this morning. This data measures dwelling values across the country and by city. The figures are calculated by using the largest property data in Australia. Home prices have fallen by 0.7pct in seasonally adjusted (SA) terms, making it the biggest decline since April 2008. On a positive note for home owners, home prices are still 10.5pct stronger now than they were 12 months ago. Commsec's Chief Economist said that "The Reserve Bank clearly has another reason to stay on the interest rate sidelines. Home prices slumped in June according to the RP Data-Rismark Hedonic Australian Home Value index. And given that the index has the capability of tracking every property transaction in Australia, the preliminary June results clearly represent a wake-up call."

Mr James went on to discuss rates by saying "We had always argued that the May rate hike was a step too far. In fact the April move can also be questioned. But it will be important now for the Reserve Bank to stay on the interest rate sidelines to give shell-shocked consumers and home-buyers a chance to catch their breath."

The Australian dollar (AUD) is stronger at midday and buys US89.9c.