Australian Stock Market Report

MIDDAY REPORT (12pm AEDT)

The Australian sharemarket has been flirting with both positive and negative territory for much of the morning but has spent most of its time in the red. The All Ordinaries index (XAO) is down 0.5 pct or 22.8 pts to 4173.8.

Most sectors are tracking lower with the energy, consumer discretionary and health care sectors the exceptions over the first few hours of trade. The three areas of the market were helping minimise the losses slightly, however at 12.30pm (AEDT) the consumer discretionary sector is the loan improver. The mining and financial sectors (the Australian sharemarket's largest) are both lower and are weighing heavily on local shares.

The major miners are lower with BHP Billiton (BHP) currently down 0.56 pct or 20 cents to $35.62. BHP makes up almost 9 pct of the whole Australian sharemarket so it does tend to have a significant impact on the rest of the market. Its closest competitor, RIO Tinto (RIO) which is around four times smaller is down 0.14 pct or 9 cents to $62.76. The major gold miners are managing to post some modest gains with Newcrest Mining (NCM) up 0.36 pct or 11 cents to $30.61.

The major banks were mixed in earlier trade but have now all dipped into negative territory. National Australia Bank (NAB) is down 1.14 pct or 27 cents to $23.46 and is the worst performing major. ANZ Banking Group (ANZ) is down 0.87 pct or 18 cents to $20.56, Westpac (WBC) is off 0.89 pct or 19 cents to $20.11 and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is easing by 0.85 pct or 42 cents to $49.23.

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 at lunch with Japan's Nikkei 225 index down 0.9 pct or 76.07 pts to 8412.64, while South Korea's KOSPI index is also 1.16 pct or 21.66 pts lower to 1842.08.

So far in trade at lunch, 567 million shares have been traded worth $1.26 billion. 308 shares are up, 360 are lower and 297 are currently unchanged. Activity is remaining extremely light on the sharemarket with concerns about the Eurozone and the New Year keeping investors at bay.

The Australian dollar (AUD) buys US102.6 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.

Steven Daghlian, CommSec Market Analyst

[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]