Australian Stock Market Report – Midday January 5, 2015

IN PHOTO: Office workers are reflected as they walk 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

 Australian shares are improving at lunch despite a softer start. The ASX 200 Index is up by 0.3 per cent after a 0.8 per cent slump on the open. An air of normality is returning to markets this week following a fortnight of patchy trade due to holidays. Volume however is likely to remain quiet with investors still remaining in holiday mode for the first few weeks of a new year.

 Global markets were mixed on Friday - with US shares treading water while European equities lost ground. The S&P500 Index in America rose by 11.5 per cent in 2014, European markets were sluggish and the ASX 200 Index in Australia edged higher by just 1.1 per cent.

 Energy stocks are doing best at lunch despite a 1.1 per cent slump in the oil price on Friday. Oil and gas company Woodside Petroleum (WPL) is up 1.3 per cent while the smaller Santos (STO) is up 1 per cent. A close to halving in the oil price in the past 4 months pushed the energy industry 15 per cent lower over the 2014 calendar year.

 Mining companies are holding onto modest gains at lunch, with losses from BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) being partly offset by gains from gold stocks like Newcrest Mining (NCM) and junior miners.

 Bank of Queensland (BOQ) shares are down 0.5 per cent despite appointing Jon Sutton as its new Chief Executive. Mr Sutton has been acting boss for the past four months and previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer. The BOE is Australia's sixth largest listed bank.

 Casino operator Crown (CWN) is down 0.4 per cent at lunch. Melco Crown - a dually listed casino company (which Crown holds a 33.6 per cent stake in) has applied to delist from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The business has both Lawrence Ho (son of casino magnate Stanley Ho) and James Packer as co-Chairmen of the Asia focused organisation.

 Australia's manufacturing industry continues to contract according to the Performance of Manufacturing Index which fell by 3.2pts to 46.9 in December. A reading below 50.0 indicates a shrinking industry.

 Volume remains light with 523.6m shares traded worth $974.1m. 427 stocks are higher, 316 are down and 265 are unchanged.

 The Australian dollar remains at its weakest levels in more than 4.5 years against the greenback and buys US$0.809, €0.676, ¥97.2 and £0.528.

[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]