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

BHP – BHP BILLITON – up 37.5 cents, or one per cent, at $37.925

RIO TINTO – up 73 cents, or 1.1 per cent, at $68.09

Australia’s biggest iron ore miners have stopped loading ships and suspended rail operations as cyclone Christine heads towards the Pilbara coast.

BSL – BLUESCOPE STEEL – down one cent, or 0.2 per cent, at $5.71

New Zealand’s iron sand exports may soar to almost 10 million tonnes a year by 2016, as Australia’s BlueScope Steel adds shipping capacity at its Taharoa site and Trans-Tasman Resources remains hopeful its offshore mining venture will be approved.

FMG – FORTESCUE METALS – up 8.5 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $5.825

A man has died in an accident at Fortescue Metals’ Christmas Creek mine in the Pilbara.

LEI – LEIGHTON HOLDINGS – down 14 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $16.11

Construction and mining company Leighton Holdings has taken full ownership of its Indian-based joint venture, Leighton Welspun.