A man is reflected as he walks past the Australian Securities Exchange building in central Sydney April 8, 2011. Singapore Exchange Ltd has terminated its $8 billion bid for Australia's ASX Ltd after the Australian government formally rejected the offer o
A man is reflected as he walks past the Australian Securities Exchange building in central Sydney April 8, 2011. Singapore Exchange Ltd has terminated its $8 billion bid for Australia's ASX Ltd after the Australian government formally rejected the offer on national interest grounds and said changes to the country's financial systems were needed before the bourse could be bought by foreigners. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA - Tags: BUSINESS POLITICS)
  • Australian shares are easing for just the second time in eight trading sessions following yesterday's 2.5 per cent surge. The ASX 200 Index is down by 0.3 per cent on light volume due to the holiday interrupted trading week.
  • US markets had an uneventful session overnight with no major data released and the end of the year quickly approaching. While the Dow Jones Industrial Index lost a few points, the S&P500 managed to close at fresh record highs.
  • Energy stocks are the hardest hit today following a fresh 5.5 year low for the oil price. The five largest companies in the industry - Santos (STO), Woodside Petroleum (WPL), Oilsearch (OSH), Origin (ORG) and Caltex (CTX) are all down by more than 1 per cent.
  • Mining companies were the best improvers on Monday but are down by 1 per cent at lunch on Tuesday. A firmer iron ore price has done little to help BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) which are both down by 0.6 per cent.
  • Banks have been the primary contributors to the ASX 200 this morning with three majors modestly firmer. Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is up by 0.1 per cent and hit an all-time record high of $86.65 in early trade.
  • Telstra (TLS) is flat at $6.02 and is very close to a 13.5 year high. TLS shares are up 14.5 per cent this calendar year and are improving for the fourth straight year.
  • Volume remains light at lunch with only 370.1m shares traded worth $949.0m. 275 stocks are up, 382 are down and 235 are unchanged.
  • No major economic news is scheduled for release in Australia or the region today. This is the final normal session of trade this year with the ASX closing two hours earlier than usual on Wednesday.
  • The Australian dollar buys US$0.812, €0.668, £0.523 and ¥97.9.

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