The All Ordinaries index opened the day poorly on a day dominated by the slump in Mayne's shares and the release of the CPI figures. At midday the All Ords was down 19.6 points to 3331.9 while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 performed even worse falling 21.7 points to 3382.2.
Volume was reasonable as 262 million shares changed hands for $802 million with seven stocks advancing for every ten that declined.
The big story was the slump in the shares in Mayne Group Limited ($3.92, down $1.34) after the healthcare and logistics giant last night cut its 2002 financial year forecast due to a slump in the group's hospital earnings.
In a statement to the ASX after the market closed MAY said it was now forecasting a full year net profit of between $170-$180 million, well below the consensus forecast of $206.9 million.
The major economic release of the morning saw the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rise 0.9% in the March quarter taking the annual rate to 2.9% according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The result was slightly above the consensus forecast of a 0.8% rise.
The rise in the CPI figures will probably see the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lift interest rates when it meets next month. Federal Treasurer Peter Costello said the inflation outcome was very positive.
Blue chips stocks were generally poor with media stocks hit as Publishing & Broadcasting ($9.32, down 18 cents) fell again while the Murdoch-led News Corpotation ($12.50, down 15 cents) was also lower.
Media stocks have been slammed since Southern Cross Broadcasting ($9.95, down 18 cents) downgrade its profit forecasts and painted a gloomy picture for advertising. Also dropping back were Seven ($6.38, down 27 cents), Prime Television ($2.40, down ten cents) and Fairfax ($3.60, down seven cents).
The other sector to be hit hard was resources as Rio Tinto ($35.60, down 82 cents), BHP Billiton ($11.23, down 15 cents) and Woodside Petroleum ($13.52, down 14 cents) fell back. Rio Tinto has been down since releasing its quarterly production report.
Rio Tinto also has announced that it will build an expanded A$400m HIsmelt plant at Kwinana in Western Australia. The HIsmelt process is a revolutionary new direct iron-smelting technology, developed largely by Rio Tinto in Australia.
In other news the Australian Competion and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has raided the offices of Caltex, Mobil, Shell and other distributors in NSW and Victoria, after allegations of petrol price fixing.
About 90 officers from the ACCC raided the offices according to press reports this morning. The ACCC is investigating whether the companies have acted together to price competitors out of the market, engaged in petrol price fixing and engaged in market sharing.
Retailer Woolworths Limited ($13.51, down eight cents) said today it has decided to exit on a staged basis from its wholesale operations. WOW said the decision was a result of the recent announcement by FoodWorks Supermarket Group to transfer its business from AIW to Metcash Trading Ltd.
Key Indices Name Last +/- % All Industrials Index 5,626.50 n/a n/a All Ordinaries Index 3,331.90 -19.60 -0.58 All Resources Index 1,692.40 n/a n/a S&P/ASX 200 3,382.20 -21.70 -0.64
InvestorWeb Technology Index IWL Tech Index Internals Rose 7 Fell 12 Unchanged 7 Largest Rise (%) CAT 8.26% Largest Fall (%) SNX -6.52% Index Level 1,084.5 Change -18.557 % Change -1.68%
Top 5 ASX Issues by Volume Code Last +/- % Volume MAY 3.970 -1.290 -24.525 28,985,106 TLS 5.170 -0.040 -0.768 13,164,753 MIM 1.180 -0.030 -2.479 8,635,260 VRE 0.014 0.000 0.000 5,423,742 LOK 0.330 +0.010 +3.125 5,187,474
Top 5 ASX Declining Issues Code Last +/- % Volume SUA 0.030 -0.020 -40.000 10,000 ISC 0.052 -0.018 -25.714 180,000 WAL 0.300 -0.100 -25.000 50,033 MAY 3.970 -1.290 -24.525 28,985,106 ITP 0.051 -0.015 -22.727 300
Major Regional Bourses Name Symbol Last +/- % Hang Seng HSI 11,345.20 +205.80 +1.85 Jakarta Composite JCI 543.06 +7.38 +1.38 Korea Stock Exchange KOSPI KOSPI 918.90 -6.80 -0.73 Kuala Lumpur Composite KLCI 806.20 -1.87 -0.23 New Zealand Top 40 Cap NZ40 2,048.98 -3.69 -0.18 Nikkei 225 NI225 11,714.90 -21.90 -0.19 Shanghai Index SHANG 1,696.19 -1.24 -0.07 Singapore Straits Times Index STI 1,743.77 +3.32 +0.19 Tokyo TOPIX TOKS 1,104.50 -1.41 -0.13
S&P / ASX 20 Name Last +/- % Volume ANZ Banking Group 19.030 +0.080 +0.422 1,734,444 Telstra Corporation Limited 5.170 -0.040 -0.768 13,164,753 BHP Billiton Limited 11.230 -0.150 -1.318 3,942,230 Brambles Industries Limited 10.210 -0.030 -0.293 1,385,408 Commonwealth Bank Of Australia 32.450 +0.040 +0.123 530,083 Coles Myer Ltd 7.960 -0.130 -1.607 1,019,847 Foster's Group Limited 4.820 -0.010 -0.207 1,243,164 Lend Lease Corporation Limited 11.790 -0.090 -0.758 357,273 National Australia Bank Limited 34.980 -0.020 -0.057 1,947,233 The News Corporation Limited 12.500 -0.150 -1.186 1,726,243 Publishing And Broadcasting Limited 9.320 -0.180 -1.895 536,655 Rio Tinto Ltd 35.600 -0.820 -2.252 1,153,032 St. George Bank Limited 19.390 0.000 0.000 307,753 Westpac Banking Corporation 16.160 -0.080 -0.493 1,984,185 Westfield Trust 3.330 -0.010 -0.299 260,364 WMC Limited 9.260 +0.020 +0.216 1,674,494 Woolworths Limited 13.510 -0.080 -0.589 695,766 Woodside Petroleum Ltd 13.520 -0.140 -1.025 448,309 The News Corporation Limited - PREFERRED 10.560 -0.050 -0.471 871,196 AMP Limited 18.850 -0.110 -0.580 675,257
Exchange Rates Currency Last (AUD) Yesterday +/- % Canadian Dollar 0.8471 0.8468 0.0003 0.0319 Denmark Krone 4.5046 4.5046 0.0000 0.0000 Euro 0.6061 0.6061 0.0000 0.0000 French Franc 3.9758 3.9760 -0.0003 -0.0068 Germany Mark 1.1855 1.1855 0.0000 0.0000 Hong Kong Dollar 4.2000 4.2000 0.0000 0.0000 Indonesia Rupiah 5,069.9775 5,069.9775 0.0000 0.0000 Ireland Punt 0.4774 0.4774 0.0000 0.0000 Italy Lira 1,173.6608 1,173.6608 0.0000 0.0000 Japan Yen 70.0858 70.1316 -0.0458 -0.0653 Korea Won 702.0963 702.0963 0.0000 0.0000 Malaysia Ringgit 2.0466 2.0466 0.0000 0.0000 New Zealand Dollar 1.2101 1.2115 -0.0014 -0.1123 Norway Krone 4.6080 4.6085 -0.0005 -0.0115 Singapore Dollar 0.9798 0.9798 0.0000 0.0000 Spain Pesata 100.8503 100.8557 -0.0054 -0.0053 Sweden Krona 5.5689 5.5684 0.0005 0.0097 Switzerland Franc 0.8888 0.8893 -0.0005 -0.0607 U.S. Dollar 0.5380 0.5380 0.0000 0.0000 United Kingdom Pound 0.3720 0.3720 0.0000 0.0000
CAT Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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