The Australian share market inked its second day of losses on the back of geopolitical tension. From the get-go sentiment was subdued as Wall Street closed in the red when US President Donald Trump warned Russia to 'get ready' for a possible US missile strike on Syria. Industrials, property and staples saw the most loses, leading over half of the sectors lower. While we did see pockets of green on the back of resources rallying. Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN) shone the brightest, up over 9 per cent, Beach energy
(ASX:BPT) added 1.8 per cent really on the back of oil surging to a three year high.
In the discretionary space Kogan
(ASX:KGN) rallied up 7.4 per cent after announcing plans to launch an internet services business
Amoung the miners gains were muted as the iron ore price eased while aluminium sored. The likes of Sandfire Resources
(ASX:SFR) added 2 per cent and South32
(ASX:S32) rose 1.8 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 13 points lower, or 0.2 per cent lower to finish at 5816.
On the futures market the Dow futures are suggesting eyeing a gain of 51 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 17 point fall.
The value of trades was $4.9 billion on volume of 731 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:S32) CSL
(ASX:CSL) BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP),
Economic newsTotal dwelling loans including home and investment loans rose by 1 per cent in February
Company news Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) welcomes Masaharu Katayama to its board of directors today. He is from the Toyota Tsusho corporation (TTC). The appointment follows the strategic placement of Orocobre shares to TTC. Mr Katayama’s career has included risk management, resource development and marketing strategy. He says Lithium plays a critical role in the renewable energy sector, which is set to experience significant growth through the electrification of transport and adoption of energy sources. Toyota Motors will market more than 10 all-electric vehicle models globally by the early 2020s so having a secure supply of lithium is essential. Shares in Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) closed 0.2 per cent lower at $4.77
Online retailer Kogan.com
(ASX:KGN) has added a low cost nbn internet services to its business. It comes as the company extended its partnership with Vodafone Hutchinson Australia into fixed broadband internet, with plans to launch nbn services this year.
High-resolution aerial map provider, Nearmap
(ASX:NEA) has positioned its US sales operations for further growth, by appointing Patrick Quigley to the new role of executive vice president and general manager. In the role he’ll focus on large global enterprise customers in the US and increasing Nearmap’s portfolio of partners. At the end of the March quarter Nearmap’s US portfolio exceeded US$10 million.
Billboard company, oOh!media
(ASX:OML) has confirmed it did submit a non-binding indicative offer to buy HT&E’s
(ASX:HT1) out of home division, Adshel. oOh!media says HT&E has declined in engaging with the company about the offer.
The second largest salmon producer in Tasmania, Huon Aquaculture
(ASX:HUO) presented to Credit Suisse, noting global supply is expected to weaken in 2018, while wild captures will continue to slide until 2050, aquaculture supplies will to continue to grow.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Consumer Discretionary adding 0.5 per cent to close at 2188.
The worst performing sector was Industrials, shedding around 1 per cent to close at 5594 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Infigen
(ASX:IFN), rising 9.2 per cent to close at $0.66. Shares in Bellamy’s
(ASX:BAL) and Syrah
(ASX:SYR) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Retail Food Group
(ASX:RFG), dropping 8.3 per cent to close at $0.94. Shares in Nib Holdings
(ASX:NHF) and Platinum Asset Management
(ASX:PTM) followed lower.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has lost 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.8 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1351 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.18 up at $US66.62 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.52 US cents.
Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin trades 1.4 per cent higher at US$6944, EOS gained 40 per cent to $8.73 Ethereum gained almost 4 per cent to $433
