Following soft leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market has found itself once again lingering in negative territory, tracking flat or 0.06 per cent lower at noon. The first two hours of trade have been categorised by a lack of direction with a sell off once again in the energy space. The likes of Santos and Origin Energy can’t seem to catch a break, both shedding around 3 per cent. The big banks are doing the bulk of the heavy lifting, with CBA leading the charge up around 1.5 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 3 points down at 5,225. On the futures market the SPI is down 12 points.
Economic newsLatest job figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown a drop in the unemployment rate for August to 5.6 per cent. Full-time employment rose by 11,500 jobs beating economists’ expectations.
Company newsDowner EDI Limited
(ASX:DOW) has announced it has won five contracts valued at over $250 million through its mining services businesses. The contracts include the delivery of hole blasting services and other mining related services. The mining services company says the contract wins highlighted the company’s broad capabilities in its field. Shares in Downer EDI are trading down 3.61 per cent at $4.81.
Eden Energy Limited
(ASX:EDE) has announced it will undertake a $15 million placement to Australian and institutional investors at an offer price of 18 cents per share. The proceeds from the placement will be used towards the development in 2017/18 of the planned large scale EdenCrete facility in the US state of Georgia, as well as for working capital purposes. EdenCrete is a enriched concrete additive developed by Eden Energy, of which it has commenced commercial sales. Shares in Eden Energy are trading down 4.44 per cent at $0.21.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Financials excluding REITs, gaining 0.6 per cent to 6,444. Shares in Challenger Financial have risen 2.18 per cent and trading at $9.38. Shares in Covermore and Commonwealth Bank are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Energy, falling 1.75 per cent to 7,758. Shares in Worley Parsons have fallen 2.81 per cent, trading at $7.26. Shares in Origin Energy and Whitehaven Coal are also lower.
IPOsHotCopper Limited
(ASX:HOT) started trading today. The online stock market forum floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.23 and is currently trading at $0.245.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,325 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7457
