Despite a strong lead from Wall Street on the back of Democrat Hillary Clinton’s modest lead, Australian investors are proceeding with caution before making any decisions ahead of the US Presidential election which will take place early tomorrow our time. The local bourse jumped at the open but has since tapered off around lunch time and is tracking 0.2 per cent higher. The Materials sector is performing the best so far with the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto leading the charge up over 2 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 8 points up at 5,259. On the futures market the SPI is 1 point higher.
Company newsDulux Group Limited
(ASX:DLX) has reported a 4.6 per cent increase in NPAT to $130.4 million for the 12 months ended 30 September 2016. The paint manufacturer’s sales revenue also increased 1.7 per cent to $1.72 billion. Dulux says growth was however impacted by declines in Australian Resources infrastructure and Papua New Guinea markets. The board declared a final dividend of 12.5 cents per share fully franked. Shares in Dulux Group are trading down 1.03 per cent at $6.28.
Incitec Pivot Limited
(ASX:IPL) has reported its NPAT has plummeted by $271 million to $128 million, due to declining commodity prices. The fertilizer giant says it focussed on ‘controlling the controllables’ such as productivity benefits and manufacturing performance. Despite the results, the company says it still has faith in its exposure to the world’s largest markets for ammonium nitrate being China and the US. Shares in Incitec Pivot are trading down 1 per cent at $2.96.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Materials, gaining 1.4 per cent to 9,258. Shares in Western Areas have risen 7.83 per cent and trading at $2.69. Shares in Sandfire Resources and Independence Group are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Financials excluding REITs, falling 0.6 per cent to 6,480. Shares in Macquarie Group have fallen 2.56 per cent, trading at $77.35. Shares in Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are also lower.
IPOsCharter Hall Long Wale REIT
(ASX:CLW) started trading today. The real estate investment company floated with an issue price of $4.00, opened at $4.01 and is currently trading at $4.02.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,283 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7711.
