Following positive leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market has bounced back in the first two hours of trade. The local bourse jumped at the open, but has since lost a little momentum; nevertheless it’s tracking 0.36% higher at noon. We have seen a rebound in the energy space today with the likes of Santos gaining around 5.5 per cent on the back of a jump in the price of Brent Crude overnight. The materials space is also surging ahead with the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto gaining 3 and 2 per cent respectively.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 20 points higher at 5,486. On the futures market the SPI is up 17 points.
Company newsSuncorp Group
(ASX:SUN) has reported an 8.38 per cent drop in net profit for FY16 to $1.04 billion. Revenue from ordinary activities was down 7.39 per cent to $15.49 billion. A final dividend of 38 cents per share was declared bringing the total dividend to 68 cents per share. Shares in Suncorp are trading down 0.3 per cent at $13.17.
Osprey Medical Limited
(ASX:OSP) has raised around $28 million in an oversubscribed private placement to sophisticated and institutional investors. Proceeds will be used primarily as expansion capital to accelerate Osprey’s commercialisation efforts in the US. A security purchase plan will be issued to existing holders of CDIs at the same issue price of $0.28 capped at $1 million. Shares in Osprey Medical are trading down 7.35 per cent at $0.32.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Energy, gaining 2.1 per cent to 8,310. Shares in Santos have risen 6.4 per cent and trading at $4.58. Shares in Beach Energy and Whitehaven Coal are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Healthcare, falling 0.7 per cent to 22,244. Shares in Virtus Health have fallen 2.92 per cent, trading at $7.66. Shares in Japara Healthcare and Regis Healthcare are also lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,359 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7623.
