After a fairly smart upmove early on despite a mixed lead from Wall Street, the Australian market gave up some gains on Thursday with investors treading cautiously amid lingering worries about the financial situation in Europe.
Healthcare, mining and energy stocks are finding some support. Financial, industrial and information technology stocks are trading mixed.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which declined to around 4,067 after advancing to 4,089.7 in early trades, is currently up 4 points at 4,071. The broader All Ordinaries index is up 3.2 points at 4,122, off an early high of 4.139.8.
Among bank stocks, ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Westpac are up marginally, while National Australia Bank is trading slightly weak. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank is up 0.3 percent, while Bank of Queensland is trading lower by about 0.6 percent.
Miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals and Rio Tinto are trading higher by 0.5 to 1 percent.
Among energy stocks, Origin Energy is gaining 1.6 percent following the company's joint venture securing A$8.71 billion in funding for its massive liquefied natural gas project in Queensland.
Woodside Petroleum is up 0.8 percent and Caltex Australia is rising 0.5 percent, while Oil Search and Santos are trading modestly lower.
Monadelphous Group and Paladin Energy are up 4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. Onesteel, Atlas Iron, Perseus Mining and Alumina are trading higher by 1.5 to 2.3 percent.
Beach Energy, Boart Longyear, Lynas Corp. and Campbell Brothers are also trading notably higher. Meanwhile, Aquarius Platinum Ltd shares are down more than 5 percent.
Qantas Airways is down by around 2 percent. James Hardie Industries, Fairfax Media, Myer Holdings, Telstra Corp., CSR and Treasury Wine Estates are trading lower by 1 to 1.6 percent.
On Wall Street, stocks recovered most of the lost ground on Wednesday after trading notably lower early on in the session. Despite a bigger than expected increase in U.S. new home sales, the market was quite weak in morning trades as worries about the financial situation in Europe rendered the mood a bit bearish.
The major averages eventually ended the session mixed, with the Dow stuck just below the unchanged line. While the Dow edged down 6.7 points or 0.1 percent to 12,496.1, the Nasdaq rose 11 points or 0.4 percent to 2,850.1 and the S&P 500 crept up 2.2 points or 0.2 percent to 1,318.9.
Major European market ended notably lower on Wednesday. While the German DAX index plummeted 2.3 percent, the French CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 index went down by 2.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil futures settled sharply lower at a seven-month low on Wednesday, surrendering almost $2 a barrel. Oil prices were hit hard by a strengthening dollar against most major currencies amid increased concerns over the eurozone crisis and speculations that Greece is preparing to quit the single currency bloc. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for July delivery, dropped $1.95 or 2.1 percent to close at $89.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
by RTT Staff Writer
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