Australian Stock Market Report – Midday 6/20/13

MID-SESSION UPDATE

(12.15pm AEST)

The Australian share market is being heavily sold off on Thursday, with weaker than expected Chinese manufacturing data (PMI) exacerbating the selling.

The flash Chinese PMI reading hit a nine month low in June falling to 48.3 from 49.2 in May.

The market was already off to a negative start after the US Federal Reserve indicated overnight it could start to taper off its QE3 bond buying program later in the year

Every sector is in the red, with heavy selling coming through from the key financial, energy and mining players.

Stocks heavily exposed to the US have done well, after the selling in equity markets saw the Aussie dollar slump to its lowest level since September 2010. In the healthcare sector there is strong support for CSL (CSL) and Cochlear (COH), while QBE Insurance (QBE) has added almost 5 per cent to $16.13.

There is strong support for the "new" News Corp, which debuted on the ASX yesterday under the code NNC. The company will formally split into two next Friday. Shares in NNC are firmer by 19 per cent to $17.30 in early trade. The old ticker code NWS, which will form the company known as 21st Century Fox next week is firmer by 1.5 per cent to $30.99.

Economy-wide spending has posted its strongest three-month period of growth in six years. According to the Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator (BSI), spending rose by 1.0 per cent in May after a 1.2 per cent increase in April and 1.1 per cent gain in March. It was the biggest three-month lift in spending since the March-May period of 2007.

On the market so far, a total of 945 million shares have changed hands, worth $3.7 billion. 240 are up, 534 are down and 337 are unchanged.

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