The Australian share market is up .7% at midday, building on yesterday’s gains and a strong close from overseas markets. Leading the gains are Materials.
The S&P/ASX200 index is up 27 points at 4,568 and on the futures market, the SPI200 is up 34 points.
In economic news: The Australia Bureau of Statistics reports building approvals have dropped 3.3% in June, from a 6.6% drop in May and, retail sales have increased 0.2% in June, seasonally adjusted, from a 0.2% increase in May. To company news: Cougar Energy Ltd (ASX:CXY) has today requested a further two-week extension for its trading suspension to enable more time to negotiate financing regarding operations at its Kingaroy pilot plant in Queensland. The company has been in a voluntary trading halt since 16 July, pending an announcement regarding the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management’s decision to halt operations at Kingaroy following water contamination concerns. Cougar Energy says that it requires further time to assess the implications of the decision in addition to working capital requirements. Cougar Energy last traded at $0.075.
Oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (ASX:STO) has announced that its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Peter Wasow, will retire from the company at the end of the year. Mr Wasow has held the position for eight years, and will continue work on Santos’s Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas project for the remainder of his time with the company. Santos says it has begun searching for a suitable successor. Shares in Santos are .15% higher at $13.45.
Turning now to market indices: Most indices are in the black at midday. The best performing index is the Materials sector, up 163 points to 12,283. Shares in PanAust are 4.66% higher at just under $0.61. Shares BHP Billiton and Gunns Ltd are also higher at noon. The worst performing index is the Health Care sector, down 44 points to 8,241. Shares in Ramsay Health Care dropped 2.97% to $13.70. Shares Alchemia and CSL are also lower at midday.
To New Zealand now and the NZSX50 is up 16 points. Taking a look at the top 4 stocks by turnover: Fletcher Building heads the list with stock up 0.26% at $7.60 followed by; Telecom of New Zealand, Infratil and Sky City Entertainment.
To gold and the dollar: Gold is trading at US$1183 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 90.94 US cents.
