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At midday the S&P/ASX200 index was down 19 points, while the All Ordinaries fell 13.
US stocks ended flat on Monday as nervousness spread ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on interest rates.
At close of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped 0.33 of a point, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 20.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was down six points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 17.
Dominating ASX headlines this morning was the news that Britain’s BG Group has launched a hostile $13.8 billion takeover approach for Origin Energy, just weeks after its friendly proposal was rebuffed.
BG’s new off-market offer is for $15.50 per share – the same price that was rejected by Origin in May - as it looks to increase its presence in the Asia Pacific, and gain exposure to Origin’s CSG reserves. At noon today Origin was trading up five per cent at $16.38.
In other takeover news, zinc and lead miner Perilya said today that its board has rejected a revised takeover offer from CBH Resources, following changes in operating and market conditions.
In a statement Perilya said that falling zinc and lead prices had changed the value of both companies operations, and that it saw little point in pursuing the current offer.
However Perilya has left the door open for further talks aimed at uniting CBH’s and Perilya’s ageing Broken Hill mines in eastern Australia.
Finally, shares in pallet supplier Brambles rose more than six per cent this morning, as it said it expects solid full year profit, despite a challenging economic environment.
Brambles reported 13 per cent sales growth for the 11 months to May, and also reassured investors that it was not about to lose valuable contracts with US retail giant Wal-Mart. The company’s shares fell sharply in April when Wal-Mart said it was to review its use of pallets.
The major resource stocks were positive at noon. BHP Billiton was up 81 cents, Fortescue Metals added 97, Rio Tinto added $1.99 while Woodside Petroleum put on $1.33.
Banking stocks went the other way, with all the majors losing around two per cent in morning trade. ANZ fell 47 cents, Commonwealth Bank dropped 89, National Australia Bank lost 34 cents, Westpac shed 42.
Other blue chips also slipped into the red. AMP was down 24 cents at noon, News Corp dropped 16, Telstra lost three cents, while Woolworths fell just one.
US stocks ended flat on Monday as nervousness spread ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on interest rates.
At close of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped 0.33 of a point, while the Nasdaq Composite Index ended down 20.
In Asian trading today, Japan’s Nikkei was down six points at noon, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 17.
Dominating ASX headlines this morning was the news that Britain’s BG Group has launched a hostile $13.8 billion takeover approach for Origin Energy, just weeks after its friendly proposal was rebuffed.
BG’s new off-market offer is for $15.50 per share – the same price that was rejected by Origin in May - as it looks to increase its presence in the Asia Pacific, and gain exposure to Origin’s CSG reserves. At noon today Origin was trading up five per cent at $16.38.
In other takeover news, zinc and lead miner Perilya said today that its board has rejected a revised takeover offer from CBH Resources, following changes in operating and market conditions.
In a statement Perilya said that falling zinc and lead prices had changed the value of both companies operations, and that it saw little point in pursuing the current offer.
However Perilya has left the door open for further talks aimed at uniting CBH’s and Perilya’s ageing Broken Hill mines in eastern Australia.
Finally, shares in pallet supplier Brambles rose more than six per cent this morning, as it said it expects solid full year profit, despite a challenging economic environment.
Brambles reported 13 per cent sales growth for the 11 months to May, and also reassured investors that it was not about to lose valuable contracts with US retail giant Wal-Mart. The company’s shares fell sharply in April when Wal-Mart said it was to review its use of pallets.
The major resource stocks were positive at noon. BHP Billiton was up 81 cents, Fortescue Metals added 97, Rio Tinto added $1.99 while Woodside Petroleum put on $1.33.
Banking stocks went the other way, with all the majors losing around two per cent in morning trade. ANZ fell 47 cents, Commonwealth Bank dropped 89, National Australia Bank lost 34 cents, Westpac shed 42.
Other blue chips also slipped into the red. AMP was down 24 cents at noon, News Corp dropped 16, Telstra lost three cents, while Woolworths fell just one.
