Australian Stock Market Report – Midday November 13, 2014

IN PHOTO: Office workers are reflected as they walk past the Australian Securities Exchange building in central Sydney April 8, 2011. Singapore Exchange Ltd has terminated its $8 billion bid for Australia's ASX Ltd after the Australian government formally rejected the offer on national interest grounds and said changes to the country's financial systems were needed before the bourse could be bought by foreigners. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

 Australian shares are sliding for the fourth day taking the losses this week to 1.8 per cent. The ASX 200 index is down 0.4 per cent and is trading below the 5450 mark. It has been a rocky ride for markets in recent months however with local shares surging by 6 per cent over the past month.

 US markets were little changed overnight while still remaining around record highs. No major economic news was released in America.

 Chinese economic news scheduled for release this afternoon will be a highlight. Keep in mind that the data will be out after the Australian sharemarket close today at 4.30pm AEDT and could set the tone for trade tomorrow morning.

 The banks are the main drags on trade at lunch with the big four wiping out around 12pts from the ASX 200. Westpac (WBC) Chief Executive Gaily Kelly has announced her resignation after six years in the top job. She will be replaced by WBC's Australian Financial Services CEO Brian Hartzer from February next year.

 Optus has lifted its half-year profit by 2.3 per cent to $394m thanks to a stronger mobile business. The telco has added 60,000 new mobile handset customers over the past three months. Optus' owner Singapore Telecom (SGT) is up 0.1 per cent to $3.42.

 Graincorp (GNC) shares are down 0.7 per cent after reporting a 64.3 per cent slump in FY14 profit to $50.3m. The result was held back by $44.2m in one-off costs, dry weather and reduced grain volumes.

 Mining stocks are taking a breather after two days of substantial falls. BHP Billiton (BHP) is flat, while Rio Tinto (RIO) and Fortescue Metals (FMG) are both up 0.2 per cent.

 Volume is light at lunch with only 631.4m shares traded worth $1.7bn. 354 stocks are up, 380 are down and 283 are unchanged.

 The Australian dollar is firmer and buys US$0.872, €0.701, £0.552 and ¥115.5.

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