12:16pm: Australian stocks have backed further off the day's highs following the release of the China PMI. At midday, the ASX200 were trading at 4917 but fell to 4911 upon the release of the data. The ASX200 topped out today at 4920 at 11.37am.
12:12pm: Some more on the first of the China PMIs - the second is due at 12.45pm.
The reading of 50.4, down from 50.6 in December, compares with the 51 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 33 economists and 50.6 in December. A number above 50 indicates expansion.
China’s economic growth picked up last quarter for the first time in two years after the government accelerated approvals of investment projects and cut interest rates. At the same time, the nation’s new leadership headed by Xi Jinping has signaled it may accept a reduced pace of expansion as it seeks to improve the quality and efficiency of development.
12:07pm: The dollar has dropped by 4/10 of a cent, to $US1.0410, on the back of the disappointing Chinese manufacturing data.
12:06pm: China's manufacturing PMI has come in at 50.4, slightly down from 50.6 in Decemeber and lower than the expected 51.
12:00pm: National Australia Bank has extended its debt facilities with family owned winery Casella Wines, the owners of juggernaut label Yellow Tail, as the bank continues to talk with the company over future loan covenants it will accept in the face of the new economic landscape which includes a high Australian dollar and falling revenue.
Casella chief executive John Casella told BusinessDay that talks were positive between the winemaker and its lender and that the family was investigating a number of opportunities and strategies to bolster the businesses over the next few years including the release of a new portfolio of premium wines, some of which could sell for $50 or $100 a bottle.
11:48am: Unions are making a last-ditch plea to the consumer watchdog against a partnership between Qantas and Emirates airlines.
Tony Sheldon, national secretary of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), along with other union representatives will front an Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) conference on Friday.
Mr Sheldon says he will reiterate that the partnership is a bad deal on many fronts.
‘‘It’s bad for consumers, it’s bad for the travelling public, it’s bad for the economy and it’s bad for the Australian workforce,’’ he told reporters outside the conference in Sydney.
‘‘Shrinking Qantas and handing over our national routes is putting our economic future into the hands of a Middle East carrier in a volatile part of the world.’’
11:36am: Australia’s producer price index at the final stage of production rose 0.2 per cent in the December quarter, for an annual gain of 1.0 per cent.
That compared with an unrevised 0.6 per cent rise in the September quarter.
In the December quarter, at the intermediate stage, the PPI was up 0.6 per cent, while at the preliminary stage it rose 0.6 per cent, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.
Over the year to December, at the intermediate stage the PPI rose 1.7 per cent and at the preliminary stage it was up 1.4 per cent.
Economists’ forecasts had centred on a December quarter PPI rise of 0.3 per cent.
11:27am: Kathmandu shares got another boost this morning after the adventure wear retailer upgraded its profit forecast after a good Christmas and better-than-expected sales in the first half.
It now expects net profit in the six months to December 31 to be between $NZ9.5 million and $NZ10.5 million ($7.69 million and $8.50 million), an increase of up to 75 per cent on its $NZ6 million net profit in the previous corresponding period.
The company expects up to 70 per cent of its full-year earnings to be made in the second half of the financial year and, therefore, remains cautious about its full-year performance.
11:20am: Analysts RP Data-Rismark report the national dwelling value – which includes both houses and units – rose 1.2 per cent last month, reversing the 1.2 per cent loss experienced in the fourth quarter of last year.
Strong growth in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth were responsible for driving the rise at the national level, while Melbourne and Adelaide continued to act as a drag on the market.
“These strong January results are likely to have seen some upwards seasonal bias, however the housing market has been on a clear recovery trend since June last year,’’ said RP Data Research director Tim Lawless.
Over January, dwelling prices increased 1.8 per cent in Sydney, 2 per cent in Brisbane and 1.7 per cent in Perth.
Movement in Melbourne and Adelaide was essentially flat, recording rises of 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Darwin was the only capital city to post a loss, with values falling 2.2 per cent.
11:06am: South Korea's manufacturing sector activity marginally shrank in January after a small rise in December but new export orders received grew for the first time in eight months, a private survey showed on Friday.
The HSBC/Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) of South Korea's manufacturing sector edged down to a seasonally adjusted 49.9 in January from 50.1 in December, just off 50 separating growth from contraction, Markit Economics said in a statement.
In December, the index rose above the 50-point mark for the first time in seven months, but analysts and government officials have said a firm rebound in South Korea's manufacturing sector would take longer due to weak global demand.
10:51am: Japanese household spending fell 0.7 per cent in December from a year earlier in price-adjusted real terms, government data showed on Friday.
The fall was more than the median market forecast for a 0.3 per cent decline, and followed a 0.2 per cent rise in November.
Spending fell 0.7 per cent in December from the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms as households spent on average 325,492 yen, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said today.
10:39am: Looking now at the sub indices on the ASX200:
- Health: +1.22%
- Finance: +0.65%
- Telecom: +0.62%
- Materials: +0.59%
- Consumer disc.: +0.56%
- Industrials: +0.52%
- Info tech: -1.11%
- Consumer staples: -0.57%
10:32am: Aquila Resources has won state environmental approval for a proposed port to export iron ore, a key step for the company's planned $7.4 billion iron ore project in Western Australia.
The biggest hurdle to the Anketell port project, designed to eventually handle 350 million tonnes a year of iron ore, is state clearance for who will build the project.
Aquila's 50 per cent-owned API joint venture wants to build a 30 million tonnes-a-year mine, a railway and port, but the project has been stalled by delays in securing funding and regulatory approvals, aggravated by volatile iron ore prices.
On top of those issues, Aquila and its partners, private mining investment group American Metals and Coal International (AMCI) and South Korean steel giant POSCO, are locked in a budget dispute.
The state has said it will not give final approval for the Anketell project until it is certain the project's backers have the funds to justify going ahead with construction, which will depend on the iron ore market.
Aquila shares are down 1 per cent to $3.09.
10:29am: Here's a quick snapshot of the best and worst performers in this first half an hour of trade:
10:19am: Taxi payments operator Cabcharge has bought the Queensland taxi company Maxi Taxi for less than $5 million.
Maxi Taxi holds 11 taxi licences and five limousine licences for areas in Brisbane, regional Queensland cities and the ACT.
Cabcharge’s acquisition includes the Maxi Taxi trademark which, it said, it would use to promote the Maxi Taxi brand around Australia.
Shares in Cabcharge are down 2 cents to $4.90.
10:09am: Shopping centre developer Westfield Group expects to pay its securityholders a distribution of 24.75 cents for the first half of the 2012-13 financial year.
The distribution, to be paid at the end of February, is in line with its previous forecasts of full-year dividends of 49.5 cents per security in the 2012-13 financial year.
Westfield Retail Trust, which only holds interests in Westfield’s Australian and New Zealand shopping centres, said it expected to pay its securityholders a 9.5 cents interim distribution.
Both Westfield companies are due to report their first-half financial results on February 27.
10:04am: The market has opened slightly higher, the ASX200 is up 9.32 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 4888.1.
10:03am: What you need to know
- SPI futures are 5 points higher at 4850
- The $A is higher at $US1.0434
- In New York, the S&P500 was 0.26% lower at 1498.11
- In London, the FTSE100 rose 0.73% to 6276.88
- China iron ore was higher at $US152.50 a metric tonne
- Gold fell $US1.15 to $US1661.50 an ounce
- WTI crude oil fell 64 cents to $US97.30 a barrel
- Reuters/Jefferies CRB index was down 0.27% at 303.93
10:02am: Good morning folks. Welcome to the Markets Live blog for Friday.
Contributors: Thomas Hunter, Richard Hughes, Jens Meyer, Max Mason
This blog is not intended as investment advice
BusinessDay with agencies
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