Housing finance up 2.5% in November, Flood woes hit Suncorp shares: Economy Roundup

Housing finance grew by a seasonally adjusted 2.5% in November, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figures show that total loan commitments for owner-occupied dwellings rose to 57,101 from 50,562 in October.

The value of home loans for owner-occupied homes rose by 2.9% to $14.47 billion, with the value of loans for investment homes falling 2.3% to $6.6 billion.

The number of commitments for new homes rose by a seasonally adjusted 9.7%, with commitments to buy established homes rising by 2%. The number of loan commitments for building homes rose by 2.7%.

Suncorp shares lost over 8% amidst floods

Suncorp Metway shares have lost over 8% this morning due to concerns over extensive claims coming out of the Queensland flood crisis.

This morning the company’s shares lost 8.37% to $8.10, with the overall index remaining flat. However, analysts suggest investors are being a little too pessimistic.

“The market has been jumpy. These companies have adequate reinsurance protection and when you own an insurer, you factor in such events. The pain is for people who manage people’s money for a day not for three years,” Paul Biddle at Celeste Funds Management told Reuters.

Some experts have predicted that Suncorp’s weather event costs could tip over $300 million for the current financial year due to the crisis. The company says it has already received over 2,500 claims since Christmas Eve.

Reject Shop in trading halt

Discount retailer The Reject Shop has entered a trading halt, as the company assesses the impact of flood damage at its distribution centre in Ipswich, Queensland.

The company has said it will be affected by the floods, with the centre actually servicing 90 of the 211 stores. The market halt is set to last for two days.

Job vacancies up 5.3% in November quarter

New ABS figures show job vacancies grew by 5.3% to 190,200 in the three months to November, indicating employment figures due out tomorrow will deliver a positive result.

The figures show that vacancies were up by 26.3% from the same time in 2009, and that job vacancies in the private sector gained 5.5% in the quarter to 172,500.

Job vacancies in the public sector rose by 4% to 17,700.

Shares flat on weak Wall Street lead

The Australian sharemarket has opened flat today, following a weak lead on Wall Street overnight, where consumer-related shares are still weak.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up just 0.8 points or 0.02% to 4711.5 at 12.20 AEST, while the Australian dollar fell to a one-month low at US98c.

Commonwealth Bank shares gained 0.1% to $50.37, while NAB shares lost 1.1% to $23.62. Westpac lost 1.2% to $21.8 as AMP fell 1.5% to $5.14.

Reed locks WA project

Reed Resources has acquired the Meekatharra gold project in Western Australia from Mercator Gold Australia in a $26.7 million transaction.

“The strategic acquisition of this near production ready asset and highly prospective tenement package provides a great opportunity to realise significant value for our shareholders,” managing director Christopher Reed said in a statement.

Greece gains new funding

Greece has now sold six-month money at a rate under that of its bailout loans, with officials now confident the country is on the right track to fix its debt issues.

“The auction was solid enough and the amount was indeed much larger than the previous auction, as expected,” Peter Chatwell, rate strategist at Credit Agricole, told Reuters. “But the market appears unable to be soothed by these results as the main event is tomorrow.”

Auctions by Italy and Spain are also on the calendar for tomorrow, with investors growing more and more nervous over the European debt crisis.

Wall Street flat on weak consumer stocks

Shares on Wall Street have remained flat, despite good performances among energy stocks, as consumer-related shares remained subdued.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 23.31 points, or 0.20%, to 11,660.76.