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At midday, the S&P/ASX200 index was up 27 points, while the All Ordinaries added 31.
US stocks slumped again on Friday following Thursday’s three per cent plunge. Surging oil prices, which topped $US142 a barrel, only compounded the gloom.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week down a further 106 points, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped five.
In Asian trading today Japan’s Nikkei was up 45 points at midday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng put on 195.
In ASX news today, the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal said on Sunday that it has raised its stake in Australian miner Macarthur Coal to 19.9 per cent, following the acquisition of a further five per cent stake from Talbot Group Holdings. Possible takeover talks between Arcelor and Macarthur ended without a deal last week.
In a further twist South Korea’s iron and steel group POSCO said today that it plans to buy a ten per cent stake in the group from Macarthur founder Ken Talbot. Talbot resigned from Macarthur’s board last week in order to have greater flexibility in dealing with his share of the company.
In other news, Babcock & Brown’s banking syndicate has said it is to waive its right to review the company’s debts, and will remove the review clause from its corporate facilities altogether.
The possible debt review was triggered earlier this month when Babcock’s market value fell below $2.5 billion dollars. In return, Babcock has agreed to a 50 basis point increase in funding costs, and will pre-pay $400 million of its debt. Shares in the group rose more than 12 per cent this morning.
Finally, in economic news, a private measure of Australian inflation jumped 0.5 per cent in June, putting annual inflation at 4.8 per cent, its highest level in five years.
The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation gauge also raised June’s underlying core inflation to 4.5 per cent – well above the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent target range. However TD Securities said that aside from surging fuel costs, inflation was showing signs of moderating.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks led the market. BHP Billiton was up 94 cents at midday, Fortescue Metals added 34, Rio Tinto put on $3.96 while Woodside Petroleum gained 61 cents.
Financial stocks were mostly negative noon. ANZ was down eight cents, Commonwealth Bank lost 37, National Australia Bank added three cents, while Westpac fell 51.
Other blue chips were mixed. AMP was down 13 cents at noon, News Corp fell 69, Telstra lost two cents, while Woolworths added four.
US stocks slumped again on Friday following Thursday’s three per cent plunge. Surging oil prices, which topped $US142 a barrel, only compounded the gloom.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the week down a further 106 points, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped five.
In Asian trading today Japan’s Nikkei was up 45 points at midday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng put on 195.
In ASX news today, the world’s largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal said on Sunday that it has raised its stake in Australian miner Macarthur Coal to 19.9 per cent, following the acquisition of a further five per cent stake from Talbot Group Holdings. Possible takeover talks between Arcelor and Macarthur ended without a deal last week.
In a further twist South Korea’s iron and steel group POSCO said today that it plans to buy a ten per cent stake in the group from Macarthur founder Ken Talbot. Talbot resigned from Macarthur’s board last week in order to have greater flexibility in dealing with his share of the company.
In other news, Babcock & Brown’s banking syndicate has said it is to waive its right to review the company’s debts, and will remove the review clause from its corporate facilities altogether.
The possible debt review was triggered earlier this month when Babcock’s market value fell below $2.5 billion dollars. In return, Babcock has agreed to a 50 basis point increase in funding costs, and will pre-pay $400 million of its debt. Shares in the group rose more than 12 per cent this morning.
Finally, in economic news, a private measure of Australian inflation jumped 0.5 per cent in June, putting annual inflation at 4.8 per cent, its highest level in five years.
The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation gauge also raised June’s underlying core inflation to 4.5 per cent – well above the Reserve Bank’s two to three per cent target range. However TD Securities said that aside from surging fuel costs, inflation was showing signs of moderating.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks led the market. BHP Billiton was up 94 cents at midday, Fortescue Metals added 34, Rio Tinto put on $3.96 while Woodside Petroleum gained 61 cents.
Financial stocks were mostly negative noon. ANZ was down eight cents, Commonwealth Bank lost 37, National Australia Bank added three cents, while Westpac fell 51.
Other blue chips were mixed. AMP was down 13 cents at noon, News Corp fell 69, Telstra lost two cents, while Woolworths added four.
