Australian Market Report of July 19, 2010

Sydney, July 19, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Australian market dropped sharply at opening on Monday following a plunge in Wall Street Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.52 per cent Friday after disappointing earnings reports from Bank of America, Citigroup and General Electric. Sharp falls in consumer confidence data also fueled concerns on US economy recovery.

On Monday the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index fell approximately 1.6 per cent in early trade, while the broader All Ordinaries index lost 1.5 per cent.
In economic news today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases international merchandise imports data for June.

Company News

Ausenco Limited (ASX:AAX) said it has been awarded a contract to provide engineering design and procurement services for Taseko Mines Limited's (TSE:TKO) C$814 million Prosperity gold-copper project in British Columbia, Canada. The project hosts a gold-copper deposit with proven and probable reserves of 831 million tonnes containing 3.6 billion pounds of recoverable copper and 7.7 million ounces of recoverable gold. The plant is expected to mill at 70,000 tonnes per day, with estimated annual production of approximately 110 million pounds of copper and 240,000 ounces of gold.

Accent Resources (ASX:ACS) has entered into Memorandum of Understanding with China's Chongqing Chonggang Minerals Development Investment Ltd (CCMDI), a joint venture between Chinese state-owned Chongqing Iron & Steel (Group) Co Ltd and Chongqing Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Group. CCMDI is finalizing the acquisition of 60 per cent interest in Hong Kong based Asia Iron Holdings Ltd. which owns the Extension Hill project in Western Australia. Accent Resources and CCMDI will work to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome for the respective Magnetite Range and Extension Hill projects. The parties will continue to hold discussions as Accent progresses its pre-feasibility studies, in the hope of concluding an agreement which might save each party significant infrastructure costs.

Private hospital operator Healthscope (ASX:HSP) has entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement with funds advised by a consortium composed by The Carlyle Group the TPG Capital under which it is proposed the consortium will acquire all of the ordinary shares in Healthscope under a Scheme of Arrangement. Healthscope shareholders will receive A$6.26 cash per share, valuing the company at approximately A$2.7 billion. The price represents a 39 per cent premium to the closing price of A$4.50 on 13 May 2010, the day prior to the announcement that Healthscope had received an indicative proposal. Healthscope said it received a number of indicative and non-binding proposals and the board unanimously recommends the offer from the consortium as this proposal provides the best outcome for shareholders, both in terms of value and associated terms and conditions.

Contact

Michelle Liang Asia Business News Asia Bureau Tel: +61-2-9247-4344 Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net