With Wall Street seeming to lack direction and closing only slightly higher yesterday, the Australian share market has opened in negative territory and is 0.6 per cent lower at noon. Investors seem to be eagerly awaiting jobs data out of the US this evening, hoping this will give some indication as to when the Fed will make the leap and hike rates.
Taking a look at the share market activity, so far we have seen some lower volumes this morning. However it is a public holiday in Victoria for Grand Final Eve today and then we have another public holiday for most states on Monday. We’ve seen a bit of a slump in the financials space with three of the big four banks in negative territory aside from NAB. We’ve also seen a slide in the materials sector, with BHP and Rio Tinto both reversing some of yesterday’s gains.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 28 points lower at 5,084. On the futures market the SPI is down 16 points.
Company news ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) has announced it has received final regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar to open a branch in Myanmar, paving the way for the official opening of the bank’s Yangoon office. The Myanmar branch will offer specialist banking services for the natural resources, utilities, infrastructure and other global diversified sectors that are expanding in Myanmar. Shares in ANZ are trading 0.8 per cent lower at $27.28.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector is Consumer Discretionaries, gaining 0.2 per cent to 1,801. Shares in Trade Me
(ASX:TME) have risen 3.4 per cent and trading at$3.35. Shares in Mantra and Retail Food Group are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Healthcare, falling 1.2 per cent to 17,589. Shares in Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) have fallen 2.17 per cent, trading at $18.06. Shares in Cochlear and Mesoblast are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,113 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying 70.47 US cents.
