The Australian share market has kicked off the week with a yo-yo session, after Wall Street closed in the red on Friday, while commodities rallied overnight. Telcos are leading the charge after Telstra
(ASX:TLS) bounced back from its sell off late last week, jumping over 2.6 per cent today.
Miners are also seeing shiny gains after the iron ore price rose 5.5 per cent while the copper price also rose. Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) gained over 5 per cent, South32
(ASX:S32) added over 2 per cent and BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio
(ASX:RIO) rose 1 per cent.
In the Energy space, after the crude oil price gained 1.7 per cent , Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) and Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) also extended their rally from Friday.
Selling in half of the sectors today, is putting a cap on gains, with the likes of G8 Education
(ASX:GEM) falling over 20 per cent after the company downgraded its EBIT forecast for FY18. While selling in Orocobre
(ASX:ORE), health play Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN) and A2 Milk
(ASX:A2M) is also taking its toll on the top 200 companies today.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 2 points down or 0.04 per cent lower at 5,988.
On the futures market the SPI is 3 points higher.
More company news nowRio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) appointed Simon Thompson as Chairman, to take over the hot seat from Jan du Plessis on 5 March 2018. Simon Thompson joined Rio as non-executive director in 2014 and has over 20 years’ experience in metals and mining across five different continents. Jan is leaving the group after being at the helm for about nine years. Rio also unveiled plans to deliver $5 billion of additional free cash flow over the next five years. Shares in Rio Tinto are trading 1.38 per cent higher to $72.15.
ANZ’s
(ASX:ANZ) Chief Risk Officer, Nigel Williams will retire next year (March 2018) after being in banking for 33 years. He joined the big four bank in 2004 and held a number of leadership roles with the group. He also led the risk function transformation with a focus on cyber security, automated decision making and data analytics. ANZ shares are trading 0.63 per cent lower to $28.44
And a director of DuluxGroup
(ASX:DLX), and its Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee, Garry Hounsell has resigned. Garry has been on the board of the manufacturer and marketer of paints and protectants for seven years. He will stand down on 31 December 2017. Shares in DuluxGroup are trading 0.76 per cent higher to $7.95
IPOsNew Energy Solar
(ASX:NEW) started trading today. The renewable and sustainable energy investments company floated with an issue price of $1.50, opened at $1.60 and is currently trading at $1.60
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Telcos, gaining 2.6 per cent to 1,269. Shares in Telstra Corporation
(ASX:TLS) have risen 2.63 per cent to $3.51. Shares in Vocus Group
(ASX:VOC) and Chorus
(ASX:CNU) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Utlites, falling 0.63 per cent to 8,687 to X. Shares in AGL Energy
(ASX:AGL) have fallen 1.2 per cent to $24.90. Shares in APA Group
(ASX:APA) are higher and Spark Infrastructure Group
(ASX:SKI) are lower.
Gold and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,275 an ounce and one Australian dollar is buying 75.93 US cents.
