The Australian share market was lower at noon with weaker financial and resources sectors offsetting gains in retail and consumer stocks.
All Ordinaries had lost 15 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 4,636.
Analyst said "There's no real trend, the major sectors are down a little bit so that's taking a sting out of the index. But it's not all one-way traffic. Westfield is up, Wesfarmers and Woolworths are up and so is Qantas. I think the retailers generally are making positive comments about the retail trading environment, and people are suggesting that if consumers are loosening their purse strings in retail then maybe they are doing so in other areas, such as travel,"
Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC) has launched a residential mortgage-backed securities issue of $1 billion. According to the Dow Jones Newswires, the issue is divided between $920 million of Class A notes carrying a preliminary AAA rating, $55 million of AA-rated Class B notes and $25 million of Class C bonds. The Dow Jones Newswires reports that the price guidance on the Class A notes is 130 basis points over the swap rate. Westpac shares fell 0.59 per cent to $23.42.
The best performing sector at midday is the Consumer Staples index up 82 points at 7,515.
The worst performing sector at midday is the Energy index, down 114 points to 15,163.
Gold is trading at US$1,118.40 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 90.87 US cents.
Today's Financial Calendar
December 14 2009
NZ house price index, Nov Japan Tankan Report, Q4 EU employment, Q3 EU industrial production, Oct UK house price index, Dec Australia Cooper superannuation industry review release (LLP) - Annual General Meeting (FTN) - Annual General Meeting (09:00 AM) (AOC) - Annual General Meeting (11:00 AM) (ERH) - Annual General Meeting (03:00 PM)
Overall market risk – This is the risk of loss by reasons of movements in a market sector. These can be caused by any number of factors including political, economic, taxation or legislative. Specific examples include changes in interest rates, political changes, changes in superannuation laws, internal crises or natural disasters. Market risk can be minimised by having a spread of investments across different types of assets.
