The Australian share market is tracking lower with banks falling the most at noon, following the negative leads set on Wall Street after Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America all lost more than 3 per cent on global credit and interest rate fears.
Also weighing on our market is a drop in the power of the Australian dollar. Telcos, property, and miners are leading the losses today.
Speaking of miners, the iron ore price is steady at US$63.89, after it’s fallen from this year high of US$78. Iron ore futures are flat. Rio
(ASX:RIO) is continuing its slide from yesterday, down over 1 per cent, while BHP
(ASX:BHP) is faring a loss of over 0.5 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 33 points or 0.6 per cent lower at noon at 5,981. On the futures market the SPI is 25 points lower.
Economic newsTotal dwellings fell by 5 per cent in April, in seasonally adjusted terms, falling more than the 3 per cent drop expected. It was also a big reverse from the prior month’s gain of 3.5 per cent. Among the states and territories, dwelling approvals fell in April in Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia (in trend terms).
Company newsInvestment bank, Moelis
(ASX:MOE) has officially been granted an Australian credit licence, which it says it vital to growing its credit related asset management business. Just days ago, in its first half 2018 update it advised its underling earnings (EBITDA) rose 83 per cent compared to the same time last year, hitting $22 million. Moelis
(ASX:MOE) shares are trading 3.8 per cent lower at $6.06.
Pharmaceutical company, Mayne Pharma Group
(ASX:MYX) has bolstered its board with the appointment of Frank Condella as a new director. He has been president and CEO of Nasdaq listed, Juniper Pharmaceuticals and was CEO of Skypharma, President of European operations of IVAX (which is now a par of Teva), plus many other exec roles in his 30 years in the pharm business. His appointment forms part of Mayne Pharma’s strategy to find a US based non-exec director with a wide basket of biotech and pharma contacts and experience. Shares in Mayne Pharma Group Limited
(ASX:MYX) are trading 1.3 per cent higher at $0.76.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is healthcare adding 1 per cent, worst performing sector is financials, shedding 1.4 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Retail Food Group Limited
(ASX:RFG), rising 5.9 per cent to $0.90, followed by shares in Bellamy's Australia Limited
(ASX:BAL) and Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited
(ASX:SAR).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Orocobre Limited
(ASX:ORE), dropping 4.2 per cent to $5.67, followed by shares in Wisetech Global Limited
(ASX:WTC) and Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited
(ASX:RWC).
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has lost 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 1.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.5 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,300 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.89 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin trades at US$7,544, Ethereum is 11 per cent higher at US$581 and EOS trades at US$12.50.
