Sydney, Oct 4, 2007 (ABN Newswire) -
Australian shares fell 0.5 per cent as top miner BHP Billiton continued to retreat on worries the recent rally in resource stocks may have been overdone, while energy firms fell on weaker oil prices.
At Midday the S&P/ASX200 index is down 51 to 6,609 and on the futures market the SPI- 200's down 59.
In economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show building approvals for August fell 1.7 per cent.
In company news this hour, Australian online travel agency Webjet has raised its offer for competitor Travel.com.au by 19 per cent, valuing the group at $54 million. It comes after rival bidder Wotif.com offered $49.8 million on Monday. Webjet increased its bid to 22 cents in cash and 21 cents of its shares per TVL share. Webjet says it plans to raise $15 million in equity capital in order to fund the revised bid. Shares in Webjet are up 2.39 percent to $1.50.
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http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/96B0J7EAShares in Gunns remain on a trading halt as the timber giant considers whether it will proceed with the proposed pulp mill in Tasmania. The shares will not be traded until either normal trading begins on Monday or the announcement is released. Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to announce his decision today on whether the controversial two billion dollar pulp mill will go ahead. Shares in Gunns last traded at $3.02.
Now to warrants with Macquarie Bank. BHP Billiton has sunk lower as investors take profits following its recent strength, BHP down almost two per cent. Warrant traders believing the weakness provided an ideal buying opportunity bought leveraged exposure through BHPWMN Oct07 $21 Call and BHPIMD May08 $25 Instalment.
Shares in Oxiana have also tip-toed lower to track the weaker performance of resource stocks today. Traders that anticipate the stock to bounce opened leveraged exposure, through OXRWMA Oct07 $4 Call and OXRWMC Nov07 $3.50 Call.
But Zinifex shares have bucked the trend of resource selling and are currently up over two per cent, after providing the market with some details on its up-coming smelter spin-off. Traders that bought in the preceding days used the weakness in the stock to lock in gains through ZFXIMG Nov07 $12 Instalment.
Turning now to market indices. The index posting the biggest gain by percentage points is the Utilities, which is up 34 points 7,425. Shares in Energy Developments are up 8.09 per cent to $3.74. Shares in Babcock and Brown Power and Babcock and Brown Wind Partners are also higher.
The worse performing index by percentage points in the Materials, which is down 248 points to 15,359. Shares in Incitec Pivot are down 3.34 percent to $83.61. Shares in Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are also lower.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei is down 124 and in New Zealand the NZSX-50 is down 25.
Gold is currently trading at $728.70 US an ounce and one Australian dollar's buying 88.46 U.S cents.
Source: Finance News Network © 2007
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