Following weak leads from US markets on the back of a drop in the price of oil overnight, the Australian share market opened sharply lower and is now tracking 1.22 per cent lower at noon. The energy space is leading the losses today; along with the big miners and the big four banks. The gold miners have bucked the trend today with the likes of Evolution Mining and Perseus Mining leading the charge.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 64 points down at 5,164. On the futures market the SPI is down 67 points.
Company newsIOT Group
(ASX:IOT) has completed a capital raising of $11.975 million via a private placement to professional and sophisticated investors. The company will issue just over 171 million shares at an issue price of 7 cents per share. The capital raising will fund production of the Roam-e flying selfie camera to support expected global sales, general working capital and the development and demerger of the OTT and Intervision business into a new company which intends to list on the ASX. Shares in IOT Group are trading down 9.09 per cent at $0.08.
St Barbara Limited (ASX:SBM ) has announced that it has exceeded record annual production and FY16 guidance at its Gwalia and Simberi gold mines. Gwalia produced a record 267,166 ounces of gold in FY16, a third consecutive record year, exceeding guidance after a better than expected final quarter. Simberi produced 26,935 ounces of gold. Shares in St Barbara are trading up 5.99 per cent at $3.54.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Utilities, gaining 0.1 per cent to 7,752. Shares in AGL Energy have risen 1.41 per cent and trading at $20.19. Shares in Spark Infrastructure and Duet Group are lower.
The worst performing sector is Financials excluding REITs, falling 1.9 per cent to 6,098. Shares in CYBG have fallen 5.94 per cent, trading at $3.64. Shares in Magellan Financial Group and Henderson Group are also lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,370 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7432.
