It was been a good start to December, with the main index, the ASX200 rising up at the open after Energy and Health care stocks pulled the market higher, but selling in the afternoon saw local bourse lose momentum, after dancing around the 6,000 point milestone earlier today.
Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) saw the most gains, to kick of Summer, with a rise of over 8 per cent, which put the Energy sector front and centre today. The likes of Caltex
(ASX:CTX) and Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) added around 2 per cent.
Another top shiner on the ASX was Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN) which injected the most life in the health care space, rising over 4 per cent after the European Society of Radiology issued best practice recommendations, which further validated its business.
Some Discretionary players put a lid on gains today after Corporate Travel Management
(ASX:CTD) lost over 3 per cent while Retail Food Group
(ASX:RFG) lost over 2 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 20 points up, or 0.33 per cent higher to finish at 5,990.
The value of trades was $4.5 billion on volume of 546 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA), Westpac Banking Corporation
(ASX:WBC) and BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP).
Local economic newsNational dwelling values held steady in November, with a 0.1 per cent slip in capital city values offsetting a 0.2 per cent lift in values across the regional markets of Australia,
In company news nowPaladin Energy’s
(ASX:PDN) administrators say the best option for the company at this stage in the interests of creditors is to propose a restructure of the company’s debt and have Paladin reinstated for quotation on the ASX. Its shares last traded at 5 cents.
Talent community software platform, LiveHire
(ASX:LVH) has won a contract to provide NYSE listed, Randstad Sourceright with a site to manage their hires in Australia. Shares in LiveHire closed about 4.8 per cent lower to $1.09.
Telstra
(ASX:TLS) has dropped its total income guidance for FY2018 by $700 million on the back of the NBN temporary rollout suspension (for six to month months). It’s Earnings (EBITDA) guidance also dropped, by $600 million, while its free cashflow also reduced.
The ACCC dropped its review of the proposed merger with Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) and Tatts
(ASX:TTS), which saw Tabcorp shares gained over 1.4 per cent while Tatts rose almost 0.7 per cent.
GetSwift
(ASX:GSW) shares gained over 84 per cent after it inked two global agreements, one with with Amazon and the other a multiyear partnership with a Fortune 500 company, Yum!, which operates Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut.
And in non-related news, Tesla switched on the world’s biggest lithium battery today in South Australia, hitting Elon Musk's deadline, which should be good news on Wall Street.
IPOsTwo companies floated today:
Gold and base metal developer, AIC Resources Limited
(ASX:AIC) started trading today. It floated with an issue price of 20 cents, opened at 25 cents and it closed at 22.5 cents.
Bojun Agriculture Holdings Limited
(ASX:BAH) started trading today. The Chinese fruit cider vinegar and fruit confections company floated with an issue price of 30 cents opened at 31.5 cents and it closed at 31.5 cents.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Energy adding 1.7 per cent to 10,423 points.
The worst performing sector was Telcos, shedding 0.23 per cent to 1,236 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Beach Energy (ASX: BPT), rising about 8.6 per cent to $1.14. Shares in Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN) and Australian Agricultural Company
(ASX:AAC) also closed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Corporate Travel Management
(ASX:CTD), dropping 3.1 per cent to $19.70. Shares in Bapcor
(ASX:BAP) and Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN) also closed lower.
Asian marketsAre mixed: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has slipped 0.4 per cent.
Wall Street The Dow Jones added 2.9 per cent, The S&P 500 gained 1.7 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost 0.2 per cent, while the 100 index lost 0.7 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,275 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.12 cents higher to US$57.42
One Australian dollar is buying 75.64 US cents.
