The Australian share market carved out its second day of straight gains. From the get go, we had positive leads after the Dow Jones closed above 25,000, which it last hit in mid-March.
Most of our sectors closed higher with miners, energy and staples making the most gains. Rio
(ASX:RIO) and BHP
(ASX:BHP) gained over 2 per cent after the iron ore price gained 0.3 per cent to US$66.56, while its futures point to a dip 0.3 per cent.
The crude oil price rose slightly OPEC’s target price of US$65 with Santos
(ASX:STO) gaining 3.8 per cent.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 32.20 points higher, or 0.53 per cent higher, to finish at 6057.30 points.
Futures market The Dow Jones Futures are suggesting a rise of 33 points.
The S&P/ASX 200 Futures are suggesting a rise of 39 points.
Value of trade $5 billion on volume of 659 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO).
Economic newsInternational Trade surplus fell to $977 million in April, which was weaker than the prior month’s $1.7 billion surplus in seasonally adjusted term.
Company news Macquarie Group
(ASX:MQG) closed its capital notes 3 offering (MCN3), raising $1 billion at an issue price of $100 each with the new notes, expected to start trading on a deferred settlement basis on Friday 8 June under the ticker, MQGPC. They are using $600 million to fund the redemption of other notes, which were redeemed 7 June 2018. Shares in Macquarie Group
(ASX:MQG) closed 0.29 per cent higher at $113.49.
Iron ore major, Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) has snapped up 20 per cent of Atlas Iron
(ASX:AGO) shares with 15 per cent of that purchased at 4 cents, and the remainder purchased by a cash swap. Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) now joins fellow stakeholders in AGO, including Macquarie Group
(ASX:MGQ) which own 6.2 per cent of the company, with Credit Suisse also having a stake as well. Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) shares closed 1.25 per cent lower at $4.74.
Westfield spin off, OneMarket
(ASX:OMN) has completed the demerged from Westfield
(ASX:WFD). The consideration was one OneMarket share for every 20 Westfield Corporation share, for those who were registered as a holder of Westfield on 1 June 2018.
Investa Office Fund
(ASX:IOF) inked an agreement to lease out 83 per cent of Barrack Place, Sydney, to a top 10 national law firm, Mills Oakley. The lease is for an 11-year term, starting the beginning of next year, at 151 Clarence Street Sydney, levels 7 to 12.
EML payments
(ASX:EML) has launched a Total Rewards Payments card in Caesars Palace Casino in Las Vegas in conjunction with their partner PayWith Worldwide to drive customer loyalty and engagement
Leading medical cannabis company AusCann Group Holdings
(ASX:AC8) has completed its second harvest with its Chilean joint venture DayaCann, yielding 620 kilograms of dried cannabis, which is 50 per cent more than its first crop.
And Global fund manager, BlackRock, minimised their holding, in milk company a2 Milk Comany
(ASX:A2M) just two days after they became a major shareholder in the firm. Blackrock reduced its stake from over 5 per cent [5.032 per cent] to just under five per cent [4.997 per cent].
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best-performing sector was Energy, which added 1.34 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), which shed 0.48 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Cimic Group
(ASX:CIM), which rose 5.72 per cent to $42.48. Shares in Mayne Pharma
(ASX:MYX) and The A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) followed higher.
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Orocobre Limited
(ASX:ORE), which fell 6.92 per cent to $5.38. Shares in Retail Food Group
(ASX:RFG) and AMP Limited
(ASX:AMP) followed lower.
Asian markets Japan's Nikkei has gained 0.87 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 0.57 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite has lost 0.05 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at USD $1297.49 an ounce.
Light crude is trading $0.51 lower at USD $65.01 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 76.57 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin is at US$7,705, Ethereum trades at US$611 and EOS is at US$13.93.
