The Australian share market started the trading week on the front foot, despite mixed leads from Wall Street. It comes as traders and investors are absorbing a mostly positive bag of company results with the likes of Domain
(ASX:DHG) reporting and trading over 4 per cent higher, GWA
(ASX:GWA) annouced their results and its shares gained about 10 per cent, along with nib
(ASX:NHF) which has gained over 3 per cent and Brambles
(ASX:BXB) which also gained on the back of reporting results.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is ASX200 0.46 per cent higher or 27 points higher at noon at 5,931, and on the futures market the SPI is pointing to a 31 points gain.
Company news Funeral home, cemetery and crematorium business InvoCare
(ASX:IVC) reported a 37 per cent lift in its net profit after tax to $97.4 million for the full year ending December 2017, compared to 2016 beating some analysts expectations. Its earnings per share lifted to 88.8 cents per share, up from 2016’s 64.7 cents. Meantime it did report a massive rise in impairments, which rose to $11.5 million, up from $200,000 in the prior year reflecting the remediation works at memorial park in QLD. InvoCare
(ASX:IVC) shares are trading 7.5 per cent lower at $14.30
Job seeking company, Seek
(ASX:SEK) reported record revenue growth of 26 per cent and earnings (EBITDA) growth of 20 per cent in the first half of this financial year compared to the 2017’s first half on the back of Australian and NZ employment. It also upgraded its earnings (EBITDA) guidance and confirmed its NPAT guidance for the full finanical year. As for its underlying net profit after tax, that marginally rose over the period to $114 million, up from $113.6 million in the pcp. It also bolstered its dividend by 4 per cent to 24 cents for the half year. Shares in Seek
(ASX:SEK) are trading 1.9 per cent higher at $20.49.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is utilites adding 2 per cent to 7,794 points while the worst performing sector is energy, shedding 1.2 per cent to 10,238 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN), rising 11.6 per cent to $0.68, followed by shares in GWA Group
(ASX:GWA) and Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Invocare
(ASX:IVC), dropping 7.5 per cent at $14.30, followed by shares in Woodside Petroleum Limited
(ASX:WPL) and IPH
(ASX:IPH).
Gold and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,350 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 79.21 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 5.5 per cent to US$10,598, Ethereum fallen/ about 5 per cent to US$930, And Ripple is trading lower at US$1.13.
