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The market recovered slightly in morning trade though, and at midday the S&P/ASX200 index was up ten points while the All Ordinaries added 13.
In the US, Wall Street remained closed on Monday for the Memorial Day public holiday, after posting its worst week of losses in more than three months on Friday.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were both up 111 points at midday.
Meanwhile, in ASX news, shares in Australian fund manager Perpetual Limited fell more than five per cent this morning, after it warned that it expected full year profit to fall in 2008.
In a statement, the group said that it anticipated full year operating profit of between $130 and $140 million, compared to a figure of $145 million in 2007. Company chairman Robert Savage said that the global credit crisis, and the current weakness in equity markets, had impacted the group.
In other news, China’s Sinosteel, whose takeover offer for Perth-based iron ore miner Midwest Corp was yesterday trumped by fellow west Australian miner Murchison Metals, has today left the door open for an increased bid for its target.
The Chinese iron ore giant today backed away from comments made by the group’s Australian deputy manager William Ren, that Sinosteel was not prepared to raise its $1.36 billion bid. The Chinese trader said today that Mr Ren was not an official spokesman for the transaction and should not be taken as indicative of Sinosteel’s intentions. Analysts believe Sinosteel, which already owns almost 20 per cent of Midwest, will be reluctant to abandon its pursuit.
Finally mining consultancy and software group Runge Limited made its debut on the ASX this morning, following a successful $50 million IPO. The listing is the stock market’s biggest so far this year.
The Brisbane-based mining services group, which has a current market capitalisation of $124 million, began trading this morning at an 11 cent premium to its $1 per-share issue price.
The overnight closure of commodity trading on the London Metals Exchange gave resource stocks little direction today. At noon, BHP Billiton was up 12 cents, Fortescue Metals added 34, Rio Tinto fell 82 cents, while Woodside Petroleum added $1.23
Banking stocks were largely positive at midday. ANZ and National Australia Bank both added 20 cents, Commonwealth Bank put on 63, Westpac was the only loser slipping eight cents.
Other blue chips were fairly flat. AMP was down a cent at noon, News Corp added four, Telstra slipped two cents, while Woolworths gained eight.
In the US, Wall Street remained closed on Monday for the Memorial Day public holiday, after posting its worst week of losses in more than three months on Friday.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were both up 111 points at midday.
Meanwhile, in ASX news, shares in Australian fund manager Perpetual Limited fell more than five per cent this morning, after it warned that it expected full year profit to fall in 2008.
In a statement, the group said that it anticipated full year operating profit of between $130 and $140 million, compared to a figure of $145 million in 2007. Company chairman Robert Savage said that the global credit crisis, and the current weakness in equity markets, had impacted the group.
In other news, China’s Sinosteel, whose takeover offer for Perth-based iron ore miner Midwest Corp was yesterday trumped by fellow west Australian miner Murchison Metals, has today left the door open for an increased bid for its target.
The Chinese iron ore giant today backed away from comments made by the group’s Australian deputy manager William Ren, that Sinosteel was not prepared to raise its $1.36 billion bid. The Chinese trader said today that Mr Ren was not an official spokesman for the transaction and should not be taken as indicative of Sinosteel’s intentions. Analysts believe Sinosteel, which already owns almost 20 per cent of Midwest, will be reluctant to abandon its pursuit.
Finally mining consultancy and software group Runge Limited made its debut on the ASX this morning, following a successful $50 million IPO. The listing is the stock market’s biggest so far this year.
The Brisbane-based mining services group, which has a current market capitalisation of $124 million, began trading this morning at an 11 cent premium to its $1 per-share issue price.
The overnight closure of commodity trading on the London Metals Exchange gave resource stocks little direction today. At noon, BHP Billiton was up 12 cents, Fortescue Metals added 34, Rio Tinto fell 82 cents, while Woodside Petroleum added $1.23
Banking stocks were largely positive at midday. ANZ and National Australia Bank both added 20 cents, Commonwealth Bank put on 63, Westpac was the only loser slipping eight cents.
Other blue chips were fairly flat. AMP was down a cent at noon, News Corp added four, Telstra slipped two cents, while Woolworths gained eight.
