The Australian share market snapped its five-day losing streak, with discretionary players shining and energy stocks, miners and financials dragging the ball.
Shares in gambling giant Aristocrat
(ASX:ALL) hit an all-time high today, propping up the market, while the ASX spent the day recovering, with over half of the sectors finishing in positive territory.
Rio
(ASX:RIO) fell the most out the mining heavy weights down 1 per cent after iron ore price lost 0.5 per cent, hitting US$64.11, while the ore futures are eyeing a fall of 1 per cent.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4.60 points higher, or 0.08 per cent higher, to finish at 6037 points.
Futures market The Dow Jones Futures are eyeing a gain of 59 points.
The S&P/ASX 200 Futures are suggesting a fall of 1 points.
Value of trades $5.8 billion on volume of 693 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and Wesfield
(ASX:WFD).
Company news Oz Minerals
(ASX:OZL) has extended its takeover offer of Avanco Resources
(ASX:AVB) to 14 June 2018 at 7.00pm. The offer is now worth 17.9 cents per share and has already been recommended. The off-market takeover is a mix of cash, and Oz Minerals shares per Avanco share. Shares in OZ Minerals
(ASX:OZL) closed 2.60 per cent lower at $10.13.w
Gambling giant Aristocrat
(ASX:ALL) made big waves, rising the most among large companies, after its revenue soared about 29 per cent in the half year to $1.6 billion, bolstered by growth in its American and digital businesses. Its net profit after tax rose 3 per cent to $257 million for the six months to 31 March 2018 following the the acquisition of Plarium and Big Fish, as well as stronger performance in ANZ region.
The Bank of Queensland
(ASX:BOQ) has taken a bit of hit today after the bank came under fire at the banking royal commission hearings yesterday. Today \itpresented to Morgans, the financial advising and stock broking house, saying its Virgin Money Australia business continues to exceed expectations.
Myer’s
(ASX:MYR) Chief General Counsel and Company Secretary Richard Amos, resigned and will leave the business at the end of July this year. Meantime, a new Chief Merchandise Officer, Mr Allan Winstanley was appointed.
Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) has an updated resource estimate for its Cauchari Joint Venture Project in Argentina based on the Phase II drilling results, noting a 3.0 megaton Lithium Carbonate Equivalent rise.
Reliance Worldwide Corporation
(ASX:RWC) entered into an unconditional agreement to buy all the issued shares of UK based global fittings manufacturer, John Guest Holdings for $1.22 billion.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best-performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, which added 1.43 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, which shed 0.55 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Aristocrat Leisure
(ASX:ALL), which rose 8.02 per cent to $30.04. Shares in Metcash Limited
(ASX:MTS) and The A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) followed higher.
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Technology One
(ASX:TNE), which fell 5.92 per cent to $4.29. Shares in Monadelphous Group
(ASX:MND) and Ausdrill Limited
(ASX:ASL) followed lower.
Asian markets Japan's Nikkei has lost 1.18 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 0.06 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.22 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,295.05 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.37 lower at US$71.83 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.67 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin US$7,709, Ethereum US$606 and EOS trades 7 per cent lower US$11.27
