Australian Stock Market Report

MIDDAY REPORT
(12pm AEDT)

The Australian sharemarket has kicked off the new trading week with uncertainty. Shares were lower on the open, gained for the next hour of trade and have now dipped into the red once again. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down 0.1 pct or 4.5 pts to 4344.

Most sectors are currently weaker however the miners, telcos and consumer discretionary companies are recording some modest gains after a few hours of trade. Australia's third largest iron ore producer, Fortescue Metals (FMG) is up 0.49 pct or 2.5 cents to $5.08. Gold miner, Newcrest (NCM) is up 0.61 pct or 21 cents to $34.61 however mining giant RIO Tinto (RIO) is currently lower. RIO is down 1.09 pct or 76 cents to $69.01 while the larger BHP is flat.

Throughout the day, a number of mining companies will be releasing their quarterly production reports including iron ore miner Sundance Resources (SDL). SDL is down 1.22 pct or 0.5 cent to 40.5 cents.

The major banks are mixed with ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) up 0.23 pct or 5 cents to $21.55 while Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is 0.14 pct or 7 cents higher to $51.23. National Australia Bank (NAB) is 0.83 pct or 20 cent weaker to $23.88 and Westpac (WBC) is down 0.38 pct or 8 cents to $21.21.

The retail sector is one of the few regions of the market to be improving with David Jones (DJS) up 4.22 pct or 10 cents to $2.47 while discount retailer JB Hi-Fi (JBH) is up 1.3 pct or 15 cents to $11.72. No major news has been released so far today by either retailer.

No major economic data is expected to be issued locally today.

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.

A number of markets were closed in the region due to the Lunar New Year public holidays last week however most are back online today. Shares in Japan are down 0.48 pct or 42.83 pts to 8798.39, South Korea's KOSPI is down 0.54 pct or 10.58 pts to 1954.25 while shares in the Philippines are higher. New Zealand's sharemarket is closed today due to the Anniversary Day public holiday.

So far in trade at lunch, 568 million shares have been traded worth $1.04 billion. 387 shares are up, 353 are lower and 365 are currently unchanged. Activity remains extremely light at lunch.

The Australian dollar (AUD) is buying US106.1 cents, €80.4 cents and £67.5 pence.

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.

Steven Daghlian, CommSec Market Analyst

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