Australian shares tracked Wall Street lower on a morning where new unemployment figures highlighted the strength of the local economy.
At lunchtime the ASX 200 was down 22 points or 0.45% at 4938 as weaker mining and financial stocks outweighed gains for telecoms, consumer staples and the gold sector. Metals & mining was the principal drag on the market, down 1.2%. The financial sector was 0.5% lower.
The unemployment rate held steady at 5.3% last month, in line with expectations, according to ABS figures released this morning. Full-time employment rose for the seventh straight month, but part-time employment fell fractionally. Analysts said the figures supported future interest rate rises.
"Basically the job market is just reassuring the Reserve Bank that their interest rate hikes to date haven't really derailed business sentiment," Westpac senior economist Huw McKay told Fairfax. "We don't think this is any impediment to a move in May."
In company news, AVG has severed talks with global wine group Constellation Brands over a potential merger of their Australian and UK businesses. Shares in AVG slumped more than 20% after this morning's announcement.
Property developer MGR Mirvac Group has closed the $350 million institutional component of a capital raising, declaring the offer "significantly oversubscribed". MGR said bids had to be scaled back because of demand.
Asian share markets retreated. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.79% to a weekly low, Shanghai was down 0.23% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.1%. Dow futures were recently at -13.
The spot gold price dipped $2.60 to $1,147 an ounce. Crude oil futures edged 10 cents higher to $85.79 a barrel.
A quieter morning than I'd hoped for. A quick bounce scalp in MRE was the highlight. Skinny scalp in ICN. Speculator in BAU at 40 - down 50% in two weeks and there should be support around here. Medium-term position in MGR in expectation that the unmet institutional demand will push it higher once other instos have locked in profits/rebalanced. Tight stop.
