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However both major Australian indices slipped into the red in morning trade, and at 11am the S&P/ASX200 index was down 14 points, while the All Ordinaries fell 12.
Wall Street ended fairly flat on Friday, as strong results from computer maker Dell boosted technology stocks but rising oil prices continued to fan inflationary concerns.
At the week’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped seven points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 14.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was down 93 points at 11am.
In ASX news, fashion retailer Just Group formally rejected Premier Investments’ $836 million hostile takeover bid this morning. Just said Premier had undervalued the group.
Premier, which is owned by billionaire investor Solomon Lew, launched its bid in March, offering $2.20 and 0.25 Premier shares for each Just Group share.
However following increasingly hostile rhetoric between the two groups, today’s rejection has come as little surprise, with independent experts reporting that the offer was neither fair nor reasonable.
In other news, CSG producer Arrow Energy this morning announced a $776 million investment by European energy giant Shell, to help develop the company’s vast CSG resources in Australia and overseas.
Arrow CEO Nick Davies said the deal would provide funding and technical expertise to the group. Under the preliminary agreement, Shell will take a 30 per cent stake in Arrow’s Australian tenements, and a ten per cent stake in Arrow’s international interests. Arrow shares surged more than 23 per cent this morning.
Finally, a private sector survey released today shows inflation is rising at its fastest pace on record; accelerating to 4.5 per cent in May.
TD Securities–Melbourne Institute inflation gauge put May’s increase at 0.3 per cent, with the main contributors being rising rental accommodation, fuel and financial services costs.
Senior strategist Joshua Williamson said the data would be of concern to the Reserve Bank ahead of tomorrow’s monetary policy meeting, but that it was unlikely to prompt another interest rate rise.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning, resource stocks mostly gained on higher metal and oil prices. At 11am BHP Billiton was up $1.09, Fortescue Metals added 19 cents, Rio Tinto gained $2.38, while Woodside Petroleum put on 39 cents.
Banking stocks went the other way though. ANZ was down 59 cents at 11am, Commonwealth Bank lost 44, National Australia Bank slipped 82 cents and Westpac fell 11.
Other blue chips were mixed. AMP was up four cents at noon, News Corp dropped 43, Telstra added two cent, while Woolworths fell 25.
Wall Street ended fairly flat on Friday, as strong results from computer maker Dell boosted technology stocks but rising oil prices continued to fan inflationary concerns.
At the week’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped seven points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 14.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was down 93 points at 11am.
In ASX news, fashion retailer Just Group formally rejected Premier Investments’ $836 million hostile takeover bid this morning. Just said Premier had undervalued the group.
Premier, which is owned by billionaire investor Solomon Lew, launched its bid in March, offering $2.20 and 0.25 Premier shares for each Just Group share.
However following increasingly hostile rhetoric between the two groups, today’s rejection has come as little surprise, with independent experts reporting that the offer was neither fair nor reasonable.
In other news, CSG producer Arrow Energy this morning announced a $776 million investment by European energy giant Shell, to help develop the company’s vast CSG resources in Australia and overseas.
Arrow CEO Nick Davies said the deal would provide funding and technical expertise to the group. Under the preliminary agreement, Shell will take a 30 per cent stake in Arrow’s Australian tenements, and a ten per cent stake in Arrow’s international interests. Arrow shares surged more than 23 per cent this morning.
Finally, a private sector survey released today shows inflation is rising at its fastest pace on record; accelerating to 4.5 per cent in May.
TD Securities–Melbourne Institute inflation gauge put May’s increase at 0.3 per cent, with the main contributors being rising rental accommodation, fuel and financial services costs.
Senior strategist Joshua Williamson said the data would be of concern to the Reserve Bank ahead of tomorrow’s monetary policy meeting, but that it was unlikely to prompt another interest rate rise.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning, resource stocks mostly gained on higher metal and oil prices. At 11am BHP Billiton was up $1.09, Fortescue Metals added 19 cents, Rio Tinto gained $2.38, while Woodside Petroleum put on 39 cents.
Banking stocks went the other way though. ANZ was down 59 cents at 11am, Commonwealth Bank lost 44, National Australia Bank slipped 82 cents and Westpac fell 11.
Other blue chips were mixed. AMP was up four cents at noon, News Corp dropped 43, Telstra added two cent, while Woolworths fell 25.
