Sydney, Sept 13, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares rose point four percent, with energy firms such as Woodside Petroleum rising on record high oil prices.

At Midday the S&P/ASX200 index has gained 17 points to 6,238 and on the futures market the SPI 200's up 10.

In company news this hour, Westpac has launched and priced $850 million worth of notes, the latest sign issuers are slowly returning to the market after it was stalled by a global credit crunch. Yesterday GE Capital Australia launched $200 million in floating rate notes. Australian bond issuance dried up in August after the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis triggered a vicious tightening of liquidity in credit markets, bringing local issuance to a standstill. Westpac said it sold the notes to over 30 accounts. Shares in Westpac rose 0.11% to $26.88.

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Australia's competition regulator has raised concerns over the sale of Southern Cross Broadcasting to two other Australian media firms. Fairfax Media and Macquarie Media plan to carve up Southern Cross between them. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement the deal raised concerns about the supply of advertising opportunities. Shares in Southern Cross Broadcasting are down 2.62% to $17.07.

Turning now to market indices. The index posting the biggest gain by percentage points is the Energy index, up 152 points at 14,348. Shares in Santos are up 2.35% to $13.48. Shares in Woodside Petroleum and Paladin are also higher.

The Telco index is the worst performing index by percentage points and has lost 5 points to 1,541. Telecom New Zealand shares are down 1.08% to $3.68. Telstra and Telstra IRS also lost ground.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei is 120 points ahead and in New Zealand the NZSX50 is up 2.

Gold is currently trading at $712.30 U.S an ounce and one Australian dollar's buying 83.86 U.S cents.


Source: Finance News Network © 2007 http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au

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