Half-time round-up:Stocks edged lower this morning for the sixth...

Half-time round-up:

Stocks edged lower this morning for the sixth session in seven as Asian markets retreated.

At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 19 points or 0.42% at 4615 after broad selling in cyclical sectors. Falls for energy (-0.8%), financials (-0.9%), metals & mining (-0.7%) and materials (-0.6%) offset gains in traditional defensive sectors such as consumer staples (+0.9%) and utilities (+0.3%).

A $2.5 billion capital raising by Woodside Petroleum weighed on the resources sector. Woodside said the cash would help develop its liquefied natural gas projects. The new shares will be offered at $42.10, a 10.8% discount to the last traded price of $47.18.

AMP and AXA SA upped their offer for AXA Asia Pacific to $12.9 billion. The new offer includes an additional $1.3 billion in cash and shares compared to the original offer launched last month.

Asian markets ignored Friday's positive lead from Wall Street. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.66%, Shanghai 1.64% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 1.2%. Dow futures were recently at -1.

Crude oil futures were back under pressure, falling 59 cents or 0.84% this morning to $69.28 a barrel. The spot gold price bounced, recently rising nearly $5 to $1,119.90 an ounce.


Nice morning here, thanks mainly to AWC's surge on the back of the aluminium price and analyst upgrades for Alcoa. Scalped pygmy bounces in VIL and RUL. Holding SBM and GCR from this morning.