Sydney, Sept 17, 2007 (ABN Newswire) - Australian shares fell 0.2 per cent as fresh worries about credit markets saw financial shares such as Babcock & Brown come under pressure.
At Midday the S&P/ASX200 index is down 41 points to 6,266 and on the futures market the SPI 200's down 12.
In company news this hour, shares in Oil Search have jumped as much as 19.4 per cent after reports that a Chinese joint venture was considering a bid of up to five billion dollars for the Australia oil firm. The South China Morning Post newspaper reports CNPC Exploration has been looking at Oil Search along with some European oil companies. But Oil Search says it's received no formal approach from anybody. The reported bid would value the company's shares at about $5.31 each, compared with its all-time high of $4.64, based on shares on issue. Oil Search owns reserves in Papua New Guinea, Yemen, Egypt and Libya. Shares in Oil Search are up 10.91% to $4.27.
The full report is available at the following video and audio links.
Video Link
http://acnnewswire.net/fnnlnk/3J0ZXHFJAudio Link
http://acnnewswire.net/lnk/O46K8520Australia's Newcrest Mining says it's raised $1.586 billion in an institutional entitlement offer, to close out its gold hedge book, sending its shares up as much as 12.5 per cent. About 96.5 per cent of eligible institutional shareholders took entitlements, indicating strong support for the restructuring. The offer price for about 91.1 million in new shares was $17.40. Newcrest is raising money to exit its gold price hedges, to give it more exposure to rising bullion prices on the spot market. Shares in Newcrest are up 9.83 per cent to $25.13.
Turning now to market indices. The index posting the biggest gain by percentage points is the Energy index, up 100 points 14,606. Shares in Oil Search are up 10.91 percent to $4.27. Shares and Energy Resources of Australia and Australian Worldwide Exploration are also higher.
The worse performing index by percentage points in the Financial ex property trust price index are down 88 points to 7,165. Macquarie Bank shares are down 2.49 percent to $75.06. Insurance Australia Group and ANZ are also lower.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei is closed today for a public holiday and in New Zealand the NZSX-50 is up 9.
Gold is currently trading at $711.40 US ounce and one Australian dollar's buying 84.41 U.S cents.
Source: Finance News Network © 2007
http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.auAbout Finance News Network
Finance News Network (FNN) has been producing up-to-date concise business and finance news tailored to traders and investors alike since 2002. FNN content reaches a diverse and constantly growing audience via online streaming video, Street Vision broadcasts and the Telstra 3G mobile phone network.
http://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au
