The Australian sharemarket is currently off by 0.9pct or 46pts to 4826.5, off the back of a weak lead out of the U.S markets and Egyptian political unrest. All sectors are lower with the most significant weakness coming from our miners. The S&P/ASX 200 Materials index is 1.22pct or 169pts lower to 13626.1.

With the Suez Canal running through Egypt and being a main mode of transport for goods between Europe and Asia by ship, political unrest puts activity on the waterway under threat. Demand for safe haven assets like gold has risen by around 2.5pct since late last week. Our largest gold miner, Newcrest Mining (NCM) is 0.82pct or 31cents stronger to $37.11.

The price of oil has also jumped close to 4.5pct overnight Friday; however we are still seeing weakness from our energy players. Australia's second largest oil and gas producer, Woodside Petroleum (WPL) is off 1.02pct or 44cents to $41.637 while the smaller, Santos (STO) trading relatively flat.

Australia's big four banks are down between 0.4pct to 0.87pct with both Westpac (WBC) and ANZ Banking Group (ANZ), currently the worst performers.

Rural media group, Southern Cross (SXL) made a $707 million bid for Austereo (AEO) today. Both shares were in a trading halt until 11am AEDT and both stocks have reacted strongly to the news. SXL is down 10.42pct or 22.5pts to $1.935 while AEO is up 10.05pct or 19cents to $2.08.

On the economic front, private sector credit data was released for December and recorded a 0.2pct rise in the month after a 0.3pct gain in November. The Melbourne Institute´s Monthly Inflation Gauge was also out this morning and showed a 0.4pct rise in January following on from a modest 0.2pct gain in December.

The Australian dollar (AUD) has gained this morning and currently buys US99.01cents.
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