Following weak leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market opened in negative territory and is tracking 0.58 per cent lower at noon. Today it’s the healthcare space that is proving to be one of the biggest drags on the market with losses in Sirtex, Cochlear and Resmed. The energy and materials spaces are leading the charge with gains in the big miners as well as Santos and Woodside.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 31 points down at 5,341. On the futures market the SPI is 23 points lower.
Company news AusNet Services Limited
(ASX:AST) has released its full year results for the year ended 31 March 2016. Net profit came in at $489.3 million and revenue amounted to $1.9 billion. The company will pay a dividend of 8.5 cents to shareholders. Shares in AusNet Services are trading down 0.31 per cent at $1.61.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is Energy, gaining 1.9 per cent to 8,003. Shares in Worley Parsons have risen 4.53 per cent and trading at $5.77. Shares in Origin Energy and Beach Energy are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Utilities, falling 1.65 per cent to 7,233. Shares in APA Group have fallen 2.46 per cent, trading at $8.94. Shares in Spark Infrastructure and AGL Energy are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,275 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7347.
