Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange on Tuesday, March 31:

ANZ – ANZ BANKING GROUP – down 44 cents, or 1.2 per cent, at $36.36

CBA – COMMONWEALTH BANK – down $1.24, or 1.3 per cent, at $93.10

NAB – NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK – down 51 cents, or 1.3 per cent, at $38.32

WBC – WESTPAC – down seven cents, or 0.2 per cent, at $39.13

Banks and building societies have condemned a bank deposits tax plan as a burden on ordinary Australians and retirees.

CTX – CALTEX AUSTRALIA – down $3.44, or 9.1 per cent, at $34.44

Caltex Australia says it will be “business as usual” after US energy giant Chevron sold its 50 per cent shareholding in the local fuel refiner and distributor.

NRT – NOVOGEN – up three cents, or 15.8 per cent, at 22 shares

Shares in drug discoverer Novogen have surged after the company said its experimental anti-cancer drug Cantrixil killed human ovarian stem cells.

ORG – ORIGIN ENERGY – down 51 cents, or 4.4 per cent, at $11.20

Origin Energy has been fined $2 million after the Federal Court found it guilty of illegal door-to-door sales.

PNA – PANAUST – up 49 cents, or 40 per cent, at $1.715

Chinese company Guangdong Rising Assets Management has told PanAust shareholders to accept its heavily reduced takeover bid or risk further share price falls.

QAN – QANTAS AIRWAYS – up six cents, or two per cent, at $3.01

VAH – VIRGIN AUSTRALIA – up 1.5 cents, or three per cent, at 51 cents

Australian airlines have welcomed new rules requiring two crew members in the cockpit at all times.

SGH – SLATER AND GORDON – in a trading halt at $7.55

Slater and Gordon has struck a $1.2 billion acquisition deal to make it the UK’s top personal injury lawyer.

SKB – SKYDIVE THE BEACH – down 5.5 cents, or 14.1 per cent, at 33.5 cents

Skydive the Beach says its acquisition of Australia Skydive will not change after the death of two skydivers during a jump with its subsidiary at Byron Bay in NSW.

TGR – TASSAL – down one cent, or 0.3 per cent, at $3.34

Salmon farmer Tassal, again defending its environmental record, says a Senate inquiry into Tasmania’s aquaculture industry is unnecessary.

WOW – WOOLWORTHS – down 14 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $29.48

Former Reserve Bank governor Ian Macfarlane is stepping down from the board of Woolworths.