Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange at noon on Wednesday:

AMC – AMCOR LTD – up 14 cents, or 2.05 per cent, at $6.94

Packaging maker Amcor will expand its flexible packaging business with the $238 million acquisition of Aperio Group.

AUN – AUSTRA UNITED COMMUNICATIONS LTD – up seven cents, or 5.15 per cent, at $1.43

CMJ – CONSOLIDATED MEDIA HOLDINGS LTD – steady at $2.75

NWS – NEWS CORPORATION – down 12 cents, or 0.64 per cent, at $18.57

TLS – TELSTRA CORPORATION – up one cent, or 0.31 per cent, at $3.26

A final decision on Foxtel’s proposed takeover of Austar appears to be some way off after the competition regulator opened a new round of market consultation on the $2.5 billion transaction.

ORI – ORICA LTD – down three cents, or 0.12 per cent, at $25.68

No traces of cyanide have been found in water samples taken from Gladstone Harbour following a breach by a chemical company, the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) says.

RIO – RIO TINTO LTD – down 64 cents, or 1.01 per cent, at $62.98

Mining giant Rio Tinto will close its Lynemouth aluminium smelter in Northumberland, England, at the end of March.

WOW – WOOLWORTHS LTD – up four cents, or 0.16 per cent, at $25.08

The High Court has found retail giant Woolworths negligent in failing to remove a greasy potato chip from the floor of one of its shopping centres.