Following a flat close by Wall Street, the local share market has struggled for direction all morning, but is losing momentum into afternoon trade, tracking 0.68 per cent lower at noon. Investors are perhaps awaiting comments on monetary policy from the Reserve Bank of Australia when it meets for its February meeting at 2.30pm this afternoon. So far it’s the property space leading the charge, but losses in the materials and energy sectors are proving too much for the market to bear today.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 34 points lower at 5,010. On the futures market the SPI is down 44 points.
Economic news
The Reserve Bank of Australia will meet for its February board meeting this afternoon, where interest rates are once again expected to be kept on hold. This is largely due to inflation figures released yesterday, showing inflation at 15 month highs of 2.3 per cent, which falls within the RBA’s target band of 2 to 3 per cent.
Company news Urbanise.com Limited
(ASX:UBN) has announced it has completed a private share placement of 10 million shares at 65 cents each to raise $6.5 million. The funds raised will further accelerate the development and implementation of the Urbanise Industry Cloud solution within the company’s growing customer base. Shares in Urbanise.com are trading up 6.82 per cent at $0.70.
TopBetta Holdings Limited
(ASX:TBH) is entering the eSports space with the creation of the “GameBetta” division. GameBetta will leverage current technologies used within the TopBetta group and will contain free content, premium content, fantasy tournaments and wagering. Shares in TopBetta are trading up 2.63 per cent at $0.20.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is REITs, gaining 0.4 per cent to 1,322. Shares in Goodman Group have risen 0.97 per cent and trading at $6.24. Shares in SCA Property and BWP Trust are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Energy, falling 1.9 per cent to 7,402. Shares in AWE have fallen 4.12 per cent, trading at $0.47. Shares in Worley Parsons and Origin Energy are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,129 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7098.
