Following weak leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market plunged at the open and is currently tracking 0.93 per cent lower at noon. Following a drop in commodity prices overnight, the materials and energy spaces are dragging the market into the red, with BHP shedding more than four per cent. The gold miners however are bucking the trend after the price of the precious metal hit three week highs overnight. Investors are also heavily selling off the financials space, namely the big four banks, with Westpac leading the losses slipping about 1 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 50 points lower at 5,312. On the futures market the SPI is down 49 points.
Company news Wellard Limited
(ASX:WLD) says the company’s earnings for the year ended 30 June 2016 will be lowered by several factors, principally by recent ship scheduling changes and margin compression created by unexpectedly high record cattle prices in Australia. As a result the company now expects to record a pro-forma net profit of between $23.5 to $30 million based on current exchange rates. Wellard says it expects the shipping and trading margin pressure in Australia to continue in the short to medium term. Shares in Wellard are trading down 12.61 per cent at $0.52.
Mesoblast Limited
(ASX:MSB) has advised that suspension of trading of its securities will remain in place pending an announcement regarding material corporate developments with respect to certain assets of the company. The company says it expects the voluntary suspension to remain in place until the earlier of the commencement of trading on 14 June 2016 or when the announcement is released to the market. Shares in Mesoblast last traded at $1.92.
Best and worst performers
The best performing sector is Utilities, gaining 0.3 per cent to 7,323. Shares in Spark Infrastructure have risen 0.64 per cent and trading at $2.37. Shares in Ausnet Services and AGL are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Materials, falling 2.3 per cent to 8,037. Shares in BHP have fallen 4.08 per cent, trading at $18.81. Shares in South32 and Nufarm are also lower.
IPOs LiveHire Limited
(ASX:LVH) started trading today. The cloud based software company floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.22 and is currently trading at $0.19.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,266 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7423.
