daytrade diaries... december 7 part 2, page-15

The Australian share market was softer at noon on light volume with falls in commodity prices weighing heavily on resources stocks and investors moving towards financial stocks.

All Ordinaries fell 36 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 4685.

Analyst said "The market is looking unsure of itself. There is a huge differential now between US and Australian interest rates and some in the market are saying US interest rates will rise."

According to a survey conducted by ANZ, total job ads rose 5.2% in November after a 1.7% fall in October.

And the Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association’s Performance of Construction Index fell 3.3 points to a read of 47.6 in November. The drop in the index taking it below the 50 mark indicating contraction in the sector.

Babcock & Brown Power (BBP) says it has reached an agreement with Babcock & Brown International Group to settle $444 million in outstanding debts and fees it owes the group. Babcock & Brown Power will pay between $33 million and $37.7 million in cash and pay all the proceeds from the sales of its interests in the Oakey Power Station. The company will also issue 80.73 million of its shares to Babcock & Brown international Group, and says these arrangements represent around an 80% reduction in the debt and fees outstanding to the group. Babcock & Brown Power shares are in a trading halt and last traded at 7.6 cents.

The best performing sector at midday is the Health Care index which is up 116 points to 8,462.

The worst performing sector at midday is the Materials index, down 178 points to 12,202.

Gold is trading at US$1,157.60 an ounce and the Aussie dollar is trading at 91.58 US cents.

http://www.marketwatch.com/
http://www.thebull.com.au/
http://www.news.com.au/business/