Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange on Thursday, Oct 9:

BCI – BC IRON – up 0.5 cents, or 0.34 per cent, at $1.485

IOH – IRON ORE HOLDINGS – down 1.5 cents, or 1.96 per cent, at 75 cents

BC Iron is close to completing its acquisition of mining company Iron ore Holdings, owned by media magnate Kerry Stokes.

CSL – CSL – down 20 cents, or 0.27 per cent, at $73.08

Blood products and vaccines provider CSL will spend $210 million on expanding its Melbourne plasma manufacturing plant, creating 200 construction jobs and 190 permanent positions.

GWA – GWA GROUP – down three cents, or 1.18 per cent, at $2.52

Bathroom and kitchen fixtures supplier GWA will shed 164 jobs as it closes its manufacturing operations in favour of overseas suppliers.

RIO – RIO TINTO – down 98 cents, or 1.63 per cent, at $59.09

Glencore has abandoned its bid to merge with Rio Tinto for now, a day after it was first made public.

TLS – TELSTRA – down three cents, or 0.56 per cent, at $5.36

SYDNEY – Optus chairman Paul O’Sullivan has called for Telstra to be broken up.