It has been a positive day of trade for the Australian share market. After opening in the black, the local bourse jumped early on and maintained momentum throughout the day, managing to finish nearly half a per cent higher, sitting just below 5,940.
The Energy sector performed well, with Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) driving up close to 7.7 per cent. Materials was pulled up by the Metals and Mining industries, with Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY) driving up more than 7 and a half per cent and BHP )ASX:BHP) up nearly 1.5 per cent.
Consumer Discretionary performed the worst, with Myer
(ASX:MYR) dropping more than 4.5 per cent after releasing Q1 results today announcing sales down 2.8 per cent this quarter. Seven West Media
(ASX:SWM) also pulled the sector down, falling nearly 3 per cent, and Domino’s
(ASX:DMP) also fell nearly 3 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 29 points up, or 0.49 per cent higher to finish at 5,938.
The value of trades was $5.8 billion on volume of 806 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) ANZ Bank
(ASX:ANZ) and BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP).
On the futures market the SPI is 34 points up.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has added 1.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.1 per cent.
Local economic newsAccording to the ABS, the pension and beneficiary living cost index has risen 0.7 per cent this quarter. The rise in housing was a main contributor which was driven by electricity due to higher wholesale prices. Tobacco and alcohol was also a main contributor, driven by a tobacco tax increase. Employee households also rose 0.7 per cent, with main contributors being housing due to rising wholesale prices and insurance and financial services due to increases in mortgage interest charges.
Company news Domino’s Pizza
(ASX:DMP) announced today termination of existing enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs), a decision by the Fair Work Commission. Domino’s said it did not oppose the termination of existing EBAs. The company requested and was granted a period of time to allow the business to transition to the new proposed EBA currently under negotiation. Shares in Domino’s Pizza
(ASX:DMP) closed at 2.92 per cent lower to $45.23.
Myer
(ASX:MYR) announced Q1 sales for FY2018 are down 2.8 per cent to $699 million.
CIMIC Group
(ASX:CIM) announced a new CEO and also released a strong report card for the nine months to September 2017.
Wellard Limited
(ASX:WLD) has announced it has made its first shipment of beef steers from Australia to China.
IPORegistry Direct
(ASX:RD1) started trading today. The cloud-based shareholder and securities management platform floated with an issue price of $0.20 (20 cents), opened at $0.195 (19.5 cents) and is currently trading at $0.19 (19 cents).
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector was Energy adding 1.1 per cent to close at 9,960.
The worst performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, shedding 0.01 per cent to close at 2,255 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT), rising 7.69 per cent to close at $1.05. Shares in Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY) and Harvey Norman
(ASX:HVN) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M), dropping 6.04 per cent to close at $7.16. Shares in CSR
(ASX:CSR) and Myer
(ASX:MYR) also closed lower.
Commodities
Gold is trading at $US1,270 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.49 up at $US54.64 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 76.60 US cents.
