Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 4-30-13

MID-SESSION REPORT
(12pm AEST)

Great start for the Aussie market with the ASX 200 index hitting a 52 week high in early trade after getting a real leg up from a strong rally in banking stocks. By lunch The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) stood at 5,145 points up 38points.

European and US markets lifted overnight Helped by the news of the newly formed Government in Italy after 2 months of dramas.
The Italian market up over 2% and Italian 10year government bonds, were once again in high demand, saw yields falling to their lowest level since Oct 2010.

Today the standout sector by far has been the S&P/ASX 200 financial sector after a strong result from Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) reported its half year numbers, its headline cash profit beat the Street. ANZ cash profit $3.18Billion up 10% year on year when the market was looking for $3.12Billion. ANZ also lifted its dividend payout higher than expected ANZ will now pay an interim dividend of $0.73cents per share. ANZ's share price rallied nearly 5% in early trade now up 4.14%. Westpac (WBC) is up 1.27% while National Australia Bank (NAB) is 2.27% stronger to $33.83. Macquarie Group Limited higher ahead of its half year results due out on Friday.

The S&P/ASX 200 Materials sector is only slightly higher even with a solid run on commodity markets the last 24 hours and strong demand for big name mining stocks off shore.
BHP Billiton (BHP) slightly lower while the smaller Rio Tinto (RIO) was up 0.4%. Tonight we will be keeping an eye on the oil price as uncertainty grows over production at one of the works largest oil refineries, Union workers at the second-largest U.S. refinery are threatening to strike in mid-June over a safety dispute with facility owner Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM +0.24%

Today the retail sector is lower with big name food and liquor selling leading the falls on consumer caution concerns. The chance of a rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is growing in the markets now there is a 39% chance of a 25% cut to the RBA cash rate but this is not helping to boosted expected spending. Woolworths Limited (WOW) off 0.9% and rival Wesfarmers Limited (WES) off 0.12% to $43.16.

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