Following dismal leads from overseas markets, the local share market took a nose dive at the open and has continued to lose momentum in the first couple of hours of trade, tracking 2.2 per cent lower at noon.
It is a sea of red across the screen with all sectors in negative territory, but it’s the financials space that is leading the losses, with NAB plummeting more than 4 per cent and the other three of the big four losing around 3 per cent. No relief for the materials space either, except for gold miners, with BHP shedding almost 2.5 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 109 points lower at 4,866. On the futures market the SPI is down 113 points.
Company news Alacer Gold Corp
(ASX:AQG) has released its full year financial results for 2015. The company ended the year with cash of $360.7 million and working capital increased to $403.9 million by year end. Attributable net profit was $46.6 million or $0.16 cents per share. Shares in Alacer Gold are trading up 7.09 per cent at $2.72.
Lucapa Diamond Company Limited
(ASX:LOM) has requested a voluntary suspension of trading pending a joint announcement from Lucapa and its partners at the Lulo diamond project, including Angolan national diamond company Endiama. Lucapa expects the announcement to be made no later than Monday the 15th of February 2016. Shares in Lucapa last traded at $0.32.
Best and worst performers
The sector with the least losses is Telcos, slipping 1 per cent to 2,029. Shares in Spark NZ have risen 1.11 per cent and trading at $3.17. Shares in TPG Telecom and Telstra are lower.
The worst performing sector is Financials excluding REITs, falling 3 per cent to 6,196. Shares in Bank of Queensland have fallen 6.38 per cent, trading at $11.88. Shares in Henderson Group and BT Investment are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,192 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7066.
