Aus. Market slumps: Aus shares 0.8% lower at noon

Market Reports

by Anna Napoli

The Australian share market dropped at the open this morning defying positive leads from Wall Street and is now tracking 0.8 per cent lower at noon. The big four banks dragged the market down with ANZ, Westpac and NAB still trading lower while shares in AMP have lifted about 2 per cent. The miners are also lower with BHP leading the declines off the back of a fall in iron ore.

The Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 2 per cent.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 51 points down at 6034. On the futures market the SPI is 49 points lower.

Company news

APN Outdoor (ASX:APO) has offered $500 million to HT&E for its outdoor media business Adshel.

Ooh Media had previously bid $470 million.

The company says no agreement has been reached between the parties and there is no certainty the proposal will result in a deal.

Shares in APN Outdoor are trading 4.4 per cent lower at $5.06.

Big Un (ASX:BIG) has announced CEO Richard Evertz has resigned effective immediately.

The news comes off the back of this mornings announcement that the company’s wholly owned subsidiary Big Review TV has been placed into voluntary administration.

Big Un has been suspended from the ASX for more than three months as the ASX and ASIC investigate the company's conduct.


The best and worst performers

The best performing sector is real estate investment trusts losing 0.6 per cent to 1355 points while the worst performing sector is Telcos, shedding 2.5 per cent to 1015 points.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is James Hardie (ASX:JHX), rising 4.2 per cent to $23.39, followed by shares in Asaleo (ASX:AHY) and AMP (ASX:AMP).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Technology One limited (ASX:TNE), dropping 7.3 per cent to $4.59, followed by shares in APN Outdoor (ASX:APO) and Healthscope (ASX:HSO).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.03 per cent, Hong Kong’s closed for a public holiday and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.2 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,290 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.81 US cents.

Cryptocurrencies

The three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower

Bitcoin has fallen 2.1 per cent to US$8315, Eos dropped nearly 6 per cent to $13.07.


 

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