Australian Stock Market Report – Midday December 16, 2014

The main indicator of the Australian Securities Exchange (bottom R) is seen in red shortly after the local market opened in Central Sydney October 4, 2011. Australian stocks eased 0.6 percent on Tuesday, pressured by falls in global equities markets in a fresh flight from riskier assets, but losses were limited after steep declines on Monday. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA - Tags: BUSINESS)

 Australian shares are falling for the sixth straight session and trading at two month lows. The ASX 200 Index is down 0.5 per cent with the energy and mining sectors continuing to be the main liabilities.

 US markets lost ground overnight while European shares struggled to remain positive in light of the falling oil prices.

 Woodside Petroleum (WPL) has announced the purchase of two LNG assets for US$2.75bn and will delay its proposed investment in its Browse floating LNG project. WPL shares are down 2.3 per cent today and have slumped by 11 per cent this calendar year.

 Telstra (TLS) is up 0.2 per cent after announcing new agreements with the NBN Co. Australia's largest telco is expected to transfer ownership of its copper and HFC assets to the NBN and is well placed to receive additional work on the network.

 Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) is down 4 per cent ahead of its Annual General Meeting which is scheduled to be held at 2.30pm (AEDT) in Melbourne. The wine company is behind brands like Penfolds, Beringer, Lindemans and Wolf Blass. TWE shares are down 8 per cent this calendar year.

 Major banks are mixed at lunch with National Australian Bank (NAB) up slightly after slumping yesterday. CBA, ANZ and WBC are all down by around 0.5 per cent.

 Volume at lunch is light with only 453.7m shares traded worth $1.2bn. 267 stocks are up, 386 are down and 293 are unchanged.

 The Reserve Bank takes centre stage today with the Reserve Bank Board minutes released and a speech being delivered by the central bank's Assistant Governor this morning. The full RBA minutes can be found here http://www.rba.gov.au/monetary-policy/rba-board-minutes/2014/02122014.html

 The Australian dollar buys US$0.822, €0.66, £0.525 and ¥96.7.

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