Orica Limited

Hosted by the China Ministry of Land & Resources and the Tianjin Municipal Government, the 12th annual China Mining Congress & Expo 2010 will be held at the Tianjin Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center from November 16 through 18, 2010. The theme of this year's Congress & Expo is: The World and China in Mining Consolidation: Co-operation, Responsibility and Development.

Australian shares rallied on Thursday after a strong lead from overseas market, and the gains were fuelled by the better-than-expected employment data in Australia. Total employment was up by 45,900 in June, compared to expectations of an increase of 15,000. Australia's unemployment rate in June was a seasonally adjusted 5.1 per cent, beating the economists' prediction of 5.2 per cent.

Slump in Australian mining shares dragged the local market lower this morning over worries that a newly unveiled tax on the resources industry could hurt the miners' profits. The drop in local market was also led by the negative lead from US market. Asian stocks also delivered a weak start on Monday. China's central bank on Sunday raised banks' reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points to further control the property prices. Chinese markets are closed today for Labour Day holiday.

Wall Street posted a small gain on Friday despite the Labour Department report showed the US unemployment rate broke above 10 per cent in October, up from 9.8 per cent in September. But the number of jobs lost narrowed to the lowest level in more than a year.

The Australian market closed higher yesterday driven by the news of Xstrata's proposed merger with Anglo-American and NAB's buying Aviva Australia. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 0.5 per cent, or 18.6 points, at 3918.2, while the broader All Ordinaries index advanced 0.4 per cents, or 16.4 points, at 3910.8.

The Australian shares were marginally lower on Friday. On Friday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 ended 10.9 points, or 0.3%, lower at 3769.6, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 6.8 points, or 0.2%, to 3737.9.

On Friday, the Australian shares reversed an early fall despite the negative leads overnight on overseas markets. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed up 14.5 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 3,540.7, while the broader All Ordinaries index had gained 16.8 points, or 0.49 per cent, to 3,478.1. This week traders are awaiting RBA's aggressive rate cut which is expected to announced when its board meets on Tuesday.

At week's end, Wall St. rebounded with about 2.9% rise on hopes for further US rate cuts and President-elect Barack Obama's call for another economic stimulus plan. China's announcement over the weekend that it will spend 4 trillion yuan by 2010 to help re-ignite growth may also shore up Australian stocks, particularly miners.

The Australian share market closed lower on Wednesday, largely attributable to volatility returning to the US financial sector and weaker resource stocks.

Yesterday, the Australian share market was 3.5 per cent higher to post its biggest single-day rise in almost four months as bargain hunters snapped up banks, property trusts and miners.