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At noon the S&P/ASX200 index was up 51 points, while the All Ordinaries added 47.
US stocks rose sharply on Thursday, as investors looked beyond another oil spike to focus on strong results from retail giants Wal-Mart and Costco, and a surprise drop in jobless claims.
At close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 213 points while the Nasdaq Composite surged 46, to its highest close since January.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was up 222 points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 198.
Meanwhile in ASX news cleaning services group Spotless said today that it is to walk away from its $534 million takeover bid for property up-keep firm Programmed Maintenance Services, following disappointing full year earnings from PMS.
Spotless said it would allow its offer to lapse after PMS’s earnings fell short of the $56 million minimum requirement of the bid. PMS reported earnings of $54 million for the full year – nine per cent below analysts’ expectations. Spotless said that given the deterioration in PMS’s core business it could no longer see value in the merger for its shareholders. Spotless shares surged more than 14 per cent on the announcement.
In other news, Chinese Sinosteel has upped its stake in takeover target Midwest Corp for the third consecutive day. Sinosteel has now secured 40 per cent of Midwest as it battles for control of the iron ore miner with Murchison Metals.
Sinosteel requires a 50.1 per cent stake in Midwest to block Murchison’s rival bid, and boost its own $1.3 billion approach. Midwest is expected to comment on the situation later today.
Finally, the downturn in the construction industry accelerated in May according to figures released today in the Australian Industry Group–Housing Industry Association performance of construction index.
The index fell 5.7 points in May to 36.9 – denoting the industry’s sharpest decline in almost three years. AI Group’s Tony Pensabene said higher interest rates and tighter liquidity were having a broad impact on construction activity.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks mainly reversed yesterday’s losses. At noon BHP Billiton was up $1.74, Fortescue Metals lost 32 cents, Rio Tinto added $3.56, while Woodside Petroleum added $2.37.
Banking stocks were mixed at midday. ANZ slipped ten cents, Commonwealth Bank put on 12, National Australian Bank lost 25 cents and Westpac added four.
Other major blue chips were largely positive at noon. AMP added a cent, News Corp put on 11 cents, Telstra slipped four cents while Woolworths gained 35.
US stocks rose sharply on Thursday, as investors looked beyond another oil spike to focus on strong results from retail giants Wal-Mart and Costco, and a surprise drop in jobless claims.
At close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 213 points while the Nasdaq Composite surged 46, to its highest close since January.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was up 222 points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 198.
Meanwhile in ASX news cleaning services group Spotless said today that it is to walk away from its $534 million takeover bid for property up-keep firm Programmed Maintenance Services, following disappointing full year earnings from PMS.
Spotless said it would allow its offer to lapse after PMS’s earnings fell short of the $56 million minimum requirement of the bid. PMS reported earnings of $54 million for the full year – nine per cent below analysts’ expectations. Spotless said that given the deterioration in PMS’s core business it could no longer see value in the merger for its shareholders. Spotless shares surged more than 14 per cent on the announcement.
In other news, Chinese Sinosteel has upped its stake in takeover target Midwest Corp for the third consecutive day. Sinosteel has now secured 40 per cent of Midwest as it battles for control of the iron ore miner with Murchison Metals.
Sinosteel requires a 50.1 per cent stake in Midwest to block Murchison’s rival bid, and boost its own $1.3 billion approach. Midwest is expected to comment on the situation later today.
Finally, the downturn in the construction industry accelerated in May according to figures released today in the Australian Industry Group–Housing Industry Association performance of construction index.
The index fell 5.7 points in May to 36.9 – denoting the industry’s sharpest decline in almost three years. AI Group’s Tony Pensabene said higher interest rates and tighter liquidity were having a broad impact on construction activity.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks mainly reversed yesterday’s losses. At noon BHP Billiton was up $1.74, Fortescue Metals lost 32 cents, Rio Tinto added $3.56, while Woodside Petroleum added $2.37.
Banking stocks were mixed at midday. ANZ slipped ten cents, Commonwealth Bank put on 12, National Australian Bank lost 25 cents and Westpac added four.
Other major blue chips were largely positive at noon. AMP added a cent, News Corp put on 11 cents, Telstra slipped four cents while Woolworths gained 35.
