Stocks to watch on the Australian stock exchange on Wednesday, July 8:

BHP – BHP BILLITON – up 24 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $26.25

RIO – RIO TINTO – up 58 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $51.74

FMG – FORTESCUE METALS GROUP – up seven cents, or 4.1 per cent, at $1.785

Iron ore prices have again fallen, dropping five per cent to $US52.28 in China overnight.

BPT – BEACH ENERGY – down one cent, or one per cent, at 97 cents

STO – SANTOS – down four cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $7.70

WPL – WOODSIDE PETROLEUM – up 52 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $34.64

US oil prices fell by more than seven per cent overnight on worries about slowing global growth amid problems in Greece and China.

CWN – CROWN RESORTS – up 13 cents, or one per cent, at $13.07

Deutsche Bank has cut its earnings forecasts for casinos operator Crown Resorts in fiscal 2015, citing disappointing revenue and earnings from operations in Macau.

IFL – IOOF HOLDINGS – down 29 cents, or 3.3 per cent, at $8.57

Financial Services firm IOOF has rejected claims of widespread corporate misconduct following claims of serious wrongdoing among its staff.

NAB – NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK – up 74 cents, or 2.2 per cent, at $34.21

National Australia Bank has reiterated its plans to spin off its troubled Clydesdale subsidiary in the UK by the end of 2015.

ORI – ORICA – down 22 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $20.56

Chemicals maker Orica is cutting jobs at Gladstone in Queensland in response falling demand for explosives from the mining sector.

PRR – PRIMA BIOMED – up 2.6 cents, or 44.1 per cent, at 8.5 cents

Shares in biotech Prima Biomed have surged more than 25 per cent after it received European endorsement for the development program of a drug to treat breast cancer.

QAN – QANTAS AIRWAYS – up 25 cents, or 7.9 per cent, at $3.43

Air New Zealand is the sole voice protesting against an application by Qantas Airways and American Airlines to increase flights across the Pacific.