Following positive leads from Wall Street it looks like the local share market is set for another session in the black, jumping at the open and now tracking 0.9% higher at noon. The materials sector is once again leading the charge today, with the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto leading the gains, jumping almost 5 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. Also a solid start to the session for the big four banks all advancing around 1 to 2 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 47 points higher at 5,102. On the futures market the SPI is up 43 points.
Company news Transurban Limited
(ASX:TCL) has reached an agreement with the Victorian government on the key steps for the progression of the Western Distributor project through the community and stakeholder engagement, tender and planning stages. The project remains in stage four of the Victorian government’s five-step proposals guidelines process. Shares in Transurban are trading down 1.33 per cent at $11.09.
Alexium International
(ASX:AJX) has successfully undertaken an institutional placement of new fully paid ordinary shares to raise approximately $6 million. Under the placement Alexium will issue approximately 9.7 million new shares at an issue price of $0.62 cents per share. Shares in Alexium are trading down 2.16 per cent at $0.68.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is Materials, gaining 2.2 per cent to 7,774. Shares in BHP have risen 4.94 per cent and trading at $18.80. Shares in Alumina and Bluescope are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Energy, falling 0.7 per cent to 7,692. Shares in Caltex have fallen 2.73 per cent, trading at $32.83. Shares in Beach Energy and Oil Search are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,232 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7646.
