It has been a rather lack lustre start to the session for the Australian share market following on from mixed leads from Wall Street. While the Dow continued to break highs, the Nasdaq took a tumble and this seems to have muted any real reaction on the local bourse today. Our market opened higher, but has since flattened off in the first two hours of trade, tracking 0.29 per cent higher at noon. Once again the financials space, namely the big four banks have continued on with yesterday’s stellar rally and we’ve also seen the big miners BHP and Rio Tinto continue to advance around 2 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 16 points up at 5,345. On the futures market the SPI is down 9 points.
Company newsSantos Limited
(ASX:STO) says its aware of market speculation that 40 million shares representing 2.25 per cent of the company’s issued capital were acquired at a price of $3.98 by Hony Capital after the close yesterday. The company confirmed it had made an enquiry with Hony Capital this morning which confirmed they were in fact successful in acquiring the shares, bumping up its holding in Santos to 3.2 per cent. The acquisition price was at an 11 per cent premium to yesterday’s closing price. Shares in Santos are trading up 6.56 per cent at $3.81.
Lendlease Group
(ASX:LLC) has assured shareholders that despite mixed market conditions it is well placed for FY17. It says earnings visibility remains high across the company’s three operating segments of development, commercial and construction. The outlook for the company’s engineering business is also strong with a meaningful improvement in earnings expected from FY18. Shares in Lendlease are trading down 1.85 per cent at $13.29.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Financials, gaining 1.9 per cent to 6,045. Shares in CYBG have risen 5.82 per cent and trading at $4.91. Shares in Henderson Group and NAB are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Utilities, falling 3.2 per cent to 6,781. Shares in APA Group have fallen 6.21 per cent, trading at $7.25. Shares in Duet Group and Spark Infrastructure are also lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,263 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.7595.
