The global sell-off has continued for a third session as another dip in commodity prices and a drop on Wall Street pressured the market. Financial and resource stocks were heavily sold in a morning of broad-based losses.
At lunch, the All Ords had fallen 44.3 to 3,913.6, the ASX/200 was off 46.6 to 3,915.9. Over 1 billion shares, or $2.3 billion had changed hands.
Materials and Resources continued on from the steep losses seen yesterday, losing another 2.3% by lunch. Rio Tinto climbed 1.7% above the line, however couldn’t outweigh a 3.2% fall from Australia’s largest company, BHP Billiton.
Fortescue was again heavily sold, down 3.8%, while OZ Minerals recouped some recent losses, posting a 4.9% rise as it completed its takeover transaction with Minmetals, reporting a final sale price of $1.354 billion.
Gold miners Newcrest and Lihir Gold shed 3.1% and 2.1%.
Onesteel, Bluescope and Sims Metals shed 1.2%, 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.
Orica and Incitec Pivot lost 2.8% and 6.1%, while Nufarm was even at lunch.
James Hardie and Boral sank 0.7% and 3.7% respectively.
Banks and Financials lost 1.1%. ANZ and NAB shed 1.5% and 0.8%, while CBA and Westpac were down 0.9% and 1.7%.
Macquarie Group dropped 3.2%.
AMP and Suncorp-Metway put on 0.8% and 1.4%. IAG eked out a 0.3% gain, while QBE lost 1.5%.
Challenger Financial Services Group fell 1.7%.
Stockland shares lost 4% after saying it would be separating its residential organisational structure and management team into two units.
The broader Property Trusts sector gave up 1.5%. Westfield, Mirvac and GPT Group slid 1.1%, 2.6% and 2.9% respectively.
Industrials were 1.2% down, with Leightons and Brambles declining 2.7% and 1.7% respectively.
Airliners Qantas and Air New Zealand lost 1.4% and 3%, with the latter reporting a nearly 10% drop in passenger numbers.
CSR spiked 7.7% after saying it would demerge some businesses, while Asciano Group tumbled 10.6% after revealing it would increase its capital raising by a further $350 million to $2.35 billion.
Macquarie satellites, Macquarie Airports and Macquarie Infrastructure Group sank 1.3% and 1%.
Downer EDI was also off 1.3%.
The Energy sector shed 0.8% as oil prices slipped again overnight. Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search both drifted 0.4% lower.
Santos jumped 1.4%, while Origin Energy lost 0.6%.
Coal and Allied was unchanged, while Paladin and Aquila Resources slumped 3.1% and 4.4% respectively.
Consumer Discretionary was down 1.3%. Unlisted department store Myer upgraded its profit guidance for the year on strong third quarter sales. Rival David Jones eked out a 0.2% gain.
Harvey Norman and Billabong lost 1.7% and 0.8% respectively.
Television station Ten lost 0.8%, while Seven gained 0.4%.
Media stocks were mostly lower, with Newscorp, Fairfax and West Australian News losing 4.5%, 1.6% and 1.5%.
Gamers Tatts, Crown and Tabcorp all lost between 1% and 1.5%.
Consumer Staples dropped a modest 0.9% with Woolworths down 1.2% despite receiving ACCC approval for its proposed takeover of Macro Wholefoods.
Wesfarmers lost 1.2%.
Fosters, Coca-Cola Amatil and Lion Nathan all rose less than 0.4%.
The Telecommunications sector added 1.1%, with Singapore Telecommunications up 1.9%. Australian subsidiary Optus said this morning it had been awarded a $186m four-year contract with the Australian Taxation Office.
Healthcare rose 0.5%, with a 0.3% gain from sector heavyweight CSL. Healthscope spiked 6.2%, while Cochlear shed 2.1%.
Utilities retreated 0.1%, while the Information Technology sector was up 0.2% at lunch.
Around the region the Nikkei 225 rose 38.7 to 9,791.6, the Straits Times Index lost 12.4 to 2,275.7 and NZSE50 drifted 10.2 to 2,775.9.
Spot gold was trading at US$932.50 per ounce and the Aussie was buying US$0.7916.
ACCC gives Woolworths green light on takeover
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it would not oppose Woolworths Limited's (WOW) proposed acquisition of organic supermarket operator, Macro Wholefoods Markets. The ACCC gave the green light to the purchase, saying it considered the acquisition would not substantially lessen competition.
At midday, Woolworths shares were down 31c to $25.85.
Air New Zealand passenger numbers fall
Air New Zealand reported a 9.9% drop in passenger numbers in May against the same month last year. The company said it carried 850,000 passengers, down on the 944,000 carried last May.
At lunchtime, Air New Zealand shares were down 2.5c to 79.5c.
Myer upgrades revenue guidance
Privately held department store chain, Myer said third quarter sales were strong and it expected the trend to continue into the fourth quarter. Myer said it now expected mid-to-high single digit increases in EBIT, NPAT and Earnings per Share from the previous year, having previously said flagged flat results.
OZ Minerals settlement with Minmetals complete
OZ Minerals announced that the settlement for the sale of most of its assets to Minmetals is complete. The Australian miner said the total proceeds amounted to US$1,354m after settlement adjustments.
At noon, OZ Minerals shares were up 5c to 96c.
Asciano increase equity raising by $350m
Asciano Group said it had increased the underwritten issue size to institutional investors by $350m. Asciano said total underwritten size would be up from $2 billion to $2.35 billion, with the funds raised being mainly used to repay debt.
At lunch, Asciano shares were down 16c to $1.305.
Stockland to separate residential business
Stockland said it would be separating its residential organisational structure and management team into two units. The company said the changes have been made as a result of the departure of residential CEO Denis Hickey, who is leaving in early July.
At midday, Stockland shares were down 13c to $3.09.
Optus secures $186m ATO contract
Singapore Telecommunications said its subsidiary Optus had been awarded a four-year $186.5m contract with the Australian Taxation Office. Optus said it was the largest Federal Government contract to date for the Australian telco.
At lunchtime, Singapore Telecommunications shares were up 4c to $2.61.
CSR to proceed with demerger
CSR said it was proceeding with the objective of demerging to create two separately listed entities. The company is conducting final evaluation and due diligence to confirm the benefits of undertaking a demerger.
At noon, CSR shares were up 13c to $1.63.
ING Office Fund to raise $415m
ING Office Fund announced a capital raising of up to $415m would take place with the objective of strengthening the company’s balance sheet. The company also updated its earnings guidance for the year ending 30 June 2010 to 6c per unit.
IOF shares were halted at 55.5c.
