The Australian share market is enjoying its second day of straight gains with Trump signalling this morning that Australia may have some clemency with the looming tariffs on steel and aluminium.
The ASX rose at the open, picking up momentum in the first two hours of trade with most of the sectors making gains and staples out in front.
It comes as the most talked about index, the ASX 200, inducted the Australian Agricultural Company
(ASX:AAC) into its hall of fame and its making gains. Ausdrill
(ASX:ASL) and Bellamy’s Australia
(ASX:BAL) were also added to the index while Myer
(ASX:MYR) was wiped along with HT&E
(ASX:HT1).
Global index maker, S&P, revealed South32
(ASX:S32) made its way into the ASX top 20, pushing out QBE’s
(ASX:QBE) place. While on the top 100 index, Cleanaway Waste Management
(ASX:CWY) and Xero
(ASX:XRO) scored a spot in the club among Australia largest listed companies, pushing out Fairfax Media
(ASX:FXJ) and Vocus Group
(ASX:VOC).
The only sectors seeing selling today, miners and energy.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 30 points up or 0.5 per cent higher at 5,973. On the futures market the SPI is 28 points higher.
To company news Energy company, Infigen Energy’s
(ASX:IFN) year to date production fell slightly by 2 per cent, compared to the same period last year. Meantime, its February energy production lifted by 6 per cent in the month. Infigen generates power across NSW, South Australia and WA, and is also in the midst of constructing further power generation in NSW. Its shares are seeing quite a bit of action today, above and below the line. At midday it’s trading 0.4 per cent lower at $0.60.
Oil and gas company, AWE
(ASX:AWE) announced to the market that Japanese company Mitsui, which is planning to take it over, has increased its major holding in the firm today. Mitsui's takeover offer for $0.95 per share closes on 23 March 2018 with AWE's independent experts saying their offer is ‘fair and reasonable’. Shares in AWE
(ASX:AWE) are trading flat at $0.95.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is consumer staples adding 0.9 per cent to 10,275 points while the worst performing sector is energy, shedding 0.8 per cent to 9,977 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Australian Agricultural Company.
(ASX:AAC), rising 7.70 per cent to $1.26, followed by shares in Genworth Mortgage Insurance Australia
(ASX:GMA) and Vocus Group
(ASX: OC).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Myer Holdings
(ASX:MYR), dropping 5.5 per cent to $0.43, followed by shares in Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) and Iluka Resources
(ASX:ILU).
Gold and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,318 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.85 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 6 per cent to US$9,401, Tether is holding at US$1.00 and Ethereum has lost about 7 per cent to US$705.
