With the Nasdaq back in record territory and Wall Street closing higher, we were set for a good day of trade.
The local bourse opened higher, but has been under a bit of pressure with a bout of economic data not meeting expectations and about 20 companies going ex-dividend today.
The Consumer Discretionary space is leading the half of the sectors lower and putting a cap on gains with Tatts
(ASX:TTS) and Harvey Norman
(ASX:HVN) trading around 2.5 per cent lower. Tatts is of course going ex-dividend today.
Bucking the trend with a rise of over 1 per cent is the Healthcare space with CSL
(ASX:CSL) almost 1.9 per cent higher after announcing a on market buy back.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 1 point down or 0.01 per cent down at 5,714 at noon.
On the futures market the SPI is 5 points higher.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has gained 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has risen 0.4 per cent.
Local economic news Australian manufacturing activity dipped to a reading of 53.5 in August, from 54.4 in July, according to the Commonwealth Bank and IHS Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). It is the lowest reading in a year, but still keeps the sector in expansionary territory.
Meantime, the national housing conditions remained steady in August according to CoreLogic’s Home Value Index. Some analysts were expecting property prices to rise around 0.7 per cent.
Company newsCommonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) has responded to media reports relating to its transaction monitoring in offshore jurisdictions. The big four bank says the documents which were referred to in the media report, are a working document that proposes enhancements and it’s a common practice across the industry. CBA noted it had also progressed its monitoring program and invested $230 million in strengthening the system. Shares in Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) are trading 0.59 per cent lower at $75.35
Flight Centre
(ASX:FLT) has completed its NZ acquisitions as part of expanding its leisure and corporate travel footprint. Australia largest retail travel outlet completed the acquisitions of Travel Managers Group and Executive Travel Group. Shares in Flight Centre
(ASX:FLT) are trading 0.27 per cent lower at $48.22
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Healthcare, gaining 1.3 per cent to 22,667. Shares in Mayne Pharma Group Limited
(ASX:MYX) have risen 5.22 per cent and trading at $0.70. Shares in Csl Limited
(ASX:CSL) and Healthscope Limited
(ASX:HSO) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, falling 0.5 per cent to 2,136 Shares in Sky Network Television Limited
(ASX:SKT) have fallen 3.31 per cent, trading at $2.48. Shares in Harvey Norman Holdings Limited
(ASX:HVN) and Tatts Group Limited
(ASX:TTS) are also lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,319 an ounce and one Australian dollar is buying 79.05 US cents.
