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However rising resource stocks boosted the wider market, and at midday the S&P/ASX200 index was up nine points, while the All Ordinaries added 13.
US stocks fell almost one per cent on Tuesday as number-one investment bank Goldman Sachs warned that US banks may have to raise up to $US65billion US dollars in order to shore up their balance sheets.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 108 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 17.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was up 63 points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 56.
In ASX news travel retailer Flight Centre this morning raised its full year profit guidance on strong second half sales growth. In a statement Flight Centre said it expected pretax profits to June 30 to be in excess of $210 million; a 38 per cent increase on last year.
CEO Shannon O’Brien said he also expected further growth in 2008-09, adding that the company had yet to encounter the retail challenges reported in other sectors. Shares in Flight Centre rose more than ten per cent this morning.
In other news, industrial services group Boom Logistics saw its shares tumble more than 13 per cent this morning on a profit downgrade.
Boom said it expected fiscal 2008 profit of $22 million, down from a forecast of $29-$30 million in February. The downgrade came as a result of personnel and system integration issues, which Boom said have intensified in the second half.
Finally, in economic news, figures released today by the Westpac-Melbourne Institute point to a sustained slowdown in Australian economic growth for the remainder of 2008.
According to the Institute’s leading index of economic activity, annualised growth in April was 2.8 per cent – well below the long term average of 4.1 per cent. Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans said the index, which in November sat at 6.6 per cent, had slowed sharply; a result that would please the Reserve Bank as it battles to cool inflation.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks were positive at noon. BHP Billiton was up 44 cents, Fortescue Metals added 36, Rio Tinto gained $2.15, while Woodside Petroleum put on 81 cents.
Banking stocks though were largely negative at midday. ANZ fell 15 cents, Commonwealth Bank dropped 42, National Australia Bank lost eight cents, while Westpac added eight.
Other blue chips dipped into the red this morning. AMP was down ten cents at noon, News Corp dropped 44, Telstra sat flat, while Woolworths fell 33.
US stocks fell almost one per cent on Tuesday as number-one investment bank Goldman Sachs warned that US banks may have to raise up to $US65billion US dollars in order to shore up their balance sheets.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 108 points, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 17.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was up 63 points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 56.
In ASX news travel retailer Flight Centre this morning raised its full year profit guidance on strong second half sales growth. In a statement Flight Centre said it expected pretax profits to June 30 to be in excess of $210 million; a 38 per cent increase on last year.
CEO Shannon O’Brien said he also expected further growth in 2008-09, adding that the company had yet to encounter the retail challenges reported in other sectors. Shares in Flight Centre rose more than ten per cent this morning.
In other news, industrial services group Boom Logistics saw its shares tumble more than 13 per cent this morning on a profit downgrade.
Boom said it expected fiscal 2008 profit of $22 million, down from a forecast of $29-$30 million in February. The downgrade came as a result of personnel and system integration issues, which Boom said have intensified in the second half.
Finally, in economic news, figures released today by the Westpac-Melbourne Institute point to a sustained slowdown in Australian economic growth for the remainder of 2008.
According to the Institute’s leading index of economic activity, annualised growth in April was 2.8 per cent – well below the long term average of 4.1 per cent. Westpac’s chief economist Bill Evans said the index, which in November sat at 6.6 per cent, had slowed sharply; a result that would please the Reserve Bank as it battles to cool inflation.
In individual share price movements on the ASX this morning resource stocks were positive at noon. BHP Billiton was up 44 cents, Fortescue Metals added 36, Rio Tinto gained $2.15, while Woodside Petroleum put on 81 cents.
Banking stocks though were largely negative at midday. ANZ fell 15 cents, Commonwealth Bank dropped 42, National Australia Bank lost eight cents, while Westpac added eight.
Other blue chips dipped into the red this morning. AMP was down ten cents at noon, News Corp dropped 44, Telstra sat flat, while Woolworths fell 33.
