In the wake of the tragic terror attack in Barcelona, coupled with selling in tech and retail stocks on Wall Street, our local bourse was positioned for a rough start from the get go.
The Australian share market dropped like a rock at the open, but managed to claw back some of the early losses. But selling across the majority of the sectors in the first two hours of trade is keeping the ASX200 in the red.
On the front foot though is the Consumers Staples space, the only sector in the black at the minute, with Treasury Wine Estates
(ASX:TWE) charging ahead after announcing a buy-back yesterday.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 52 points down at 5,728.
On the futures market the SPI is 58 points lower.
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.99 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 1.22 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has shed 0.31 per cent.
Company newsCocoa-Cola Amatil
(ASX:CCL) says it’s planning to recover the fees from the NSW Container Deposit Scheme by passing them onto the consumer. It comes as the Scheme Coordinator of the government’s program announced the charges for selling eligible containers, is 10 cents per container. The NSW government Scheme Coordinator also revealed it will charge the container suppliers administration fees, recovering its costs and handling fees. Shares in Cocoa-Cola Amatil
(ASX:CCL) are trading 0.06 per cent higher at $8.48
Cyclopharm
(ASX:CYC) has enrolled its first patient this week, in a study to assess how nuclear medicine imaging can assess diseases like asthma and chronic pulmonary disorder (COPD). The study will assess lung function, using radioactive functional ventilation tracers, called Technegas with pulmonary perfusion imaging and low dose CT imaging. The firm is funding the $665,000 trial, that’s in collaboration with the University of Newcastle and the Hunter Medical Research institute. Shares in Cyclopharm
(ASX:CYC) last traded at $0.84.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Consumer Staples, gaining 0.36 per cent to 9,465. Shares in Treasury Wine Estates Limited
(ASX:TWE) have risen 3.4 per cent and trading at $13.40. Shares in Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) and Wesfarmers Limited
(ASX:WES) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Financials, falling 1.44 per cent to 6,464. Shares in QBE Insurance Group Limited
(ASX:QBE) have fallen 2.95 per cent, trading at $10.84. Shares in CYBG Plc
(ASX:CYB) and Macquarie Group
(ASX:MQG) are also lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,288 an ounce and one Australian dollar is buying 78.95 US cents.
