Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at noon on Friday:
AMC - AMCOR - up 13 cents, or 1.25 per cent, at $10.56
Packaging firm Amcor has been unsuccessful in its attempt to acquire the North American assets of Constar Holdings.
AUT - AURORA OIL AND GAS - up $1.46, or 55.7 per cent, at $4.08
Canadian oil company Baytex Energy has launched a $1.8 billion bid to takeover Australian-listed Aurora Oil and Gas.
NWS - NEWS CORPORATION - up $1.41, or 8.2 per cent, at $18.61
NWSLV - NEWS CORPORATION NON-VOTING STOCK - up $1.19, or 6.8 per cent, at $18.61
Continued falls in ad income at Rupert Murdoch's Australian newspapers continue to hurt revenue but his company News Corporation has still managed a $US150 million ($A168.81 million) net profit.
WES - WESFARMERS - down 18 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $42.26
WOW - WOOLWORTHS - up six cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $34.78
Horticulture NZ is blaming Australian growers for the supermarket ban on some New Zealand products.
WPL - WOODSIDE PETROLEUM - down 19 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $37.43
Oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum is set to take a 25 per cent stake in the Leviathan joint venture gas project off the coast of Israel.