The Australian share market opened in the green this morning with most stocks trading higher. The ASX is now tracking 0.5 per cent higher at noon. Most sectors are lifting but telcos remain under pressure following Telstra’s profit downgrade on Monday.
The Iron ore futures are down 0.7 per cent . We are seeing the likes of BHP
(ASX:BHP) up by around 1.4 per cent .
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 30 points up at 6128. On the futures market the SPI is 22 points higher.
Local economic news Australian workers are continuing to see little improvement in their pay packets . The wage price index rose by half a per cent in the March quarter slightly below expectations. Annual wage growth was steady at 2.1 per cent.
Company newsAP Eagers
(ASX:APE) has held its annual general meeting. The Automotive retail Group announced a 5 per cent drop in statutory profit before tax for 2017 and a 9.2 per cent drop in earnings per share.
Despite the lower figures, the company says results were the second best ever. Director Nicholas Politis was re elected and shareholders also voted in favour of board remuneration. Shares in AP Eagers are up 0.4 per cent to $8.63
Noni B
(ASX:NBL) has raised $37.8 million via an institutional placement. The retail company says it received overwhelming support from institutional investors with a 100 per cent take up. Money raised will fund the company’s purchase of Specialty Fashion Group announced earlier this week. Shares in Noni B
(ASX:NBL) are trading 16.2 per cent higher to $2.73
IPOsStar Combo Pharma
(ASX:S66) started trading today, floating with an issue price of 50 cents, opening at 59c cents and is now trading at 61 cents.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is energy adding 1.5 per cent to 11652 points while the worst performing sector is utilities, shedding 1 per cent to 7559 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Dominos
(ASX:GWA), rising 5.5 per cent to $44.91, followed by shares in Invocare
(ASX:IVC) and Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is a2 milk
(ASX:A2M), dropping 14.4 per cent to $10.38, followed by shares in Bellamys
(ASX:BAL) and CYBG
(ASX:CYB).
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has added 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has down 0.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.4 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1294 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.59 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesThe three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower
Bitcoin is down 4.3 per cent Ethereum is down 4.8 per cent and Eos has dropped 11 per cent.
