Market Wrap - Midday
Friday, 3 July 2009 12:25pm
The Australian share market fell more than one per cent in morning trade, following losses in Wall Street on poor jobs data.
At 1200 AEST the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 54.8 points, or 1.41 per cent, at 3822.5 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was off 52.9 points, or 1.37 per cent, at 3822.3 points.
On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index contract was 75 points lower at 3786 on a volume of 11,184 contracts.
A director at EL&C Baillieu Stockbroking, Richard Morrow, said a poor lead from Wall Street and the impending Independence Day holiday in the US had helped push the Australian bourse down.
"The market is very, very soggy today," Mr Morrow said.
"There are a couple of overhanging factors.
"The US market is closed tonight for the Independence Day holiday, then we have the weekend, so there is really not a lot of enthusiasm for buying anything today on the basis that you will be able to buy it a bit cheaper on Monday," he said.
Mr Morrow said the US market had been depressed by poor jobless figures, which showed US unemployment rising 0.1 point to 9.5 per cent, with about 467,000 jobs shed in June.
"The unemployment numbers were worse than expected, but in the scheme of things what you get at the bottom of the market is a lot of volatility," Mr Morrow said.
At 1203 AEST, shares in global miner BHP Billiton were down one dollar to $33.30 while other miners also were weaker.
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto was in a trading halt as its bank underwriters offload shares that were not taken up under its Australian equity raising.
"Rio Tinto hasn't traded yet, and you would expect them to be trading a little lower and that would drag the index even lower," Mr Morrow said.
AAP
