he Australian share market started the trading session lower, erasing this week’s gains. It comes as he we didn’t see much life on Wall Street after President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement to establish a "peace regime" on the Korean peninsula, with tech stocks rising 0.6 per cent and the S&P500 adding a modest 0.2 per cent.
Back home, just two of our sectors are seeing green, utilities which are up a massive 7.8 per cent
As for what’s holding us back, the energy sector is seeing the most selling today after oil prices fell, with the likes of Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) losing 2.9 cent, pulled down by rising US supplies. Nevertheless, the oil price is still above OPEC’s target price.
And miners are also seeing the second most amount of selling, after Fortescue
(ASX:FMG) slipping 2.3 per cent, with BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Rio
(ASX:RIO) following. It comes as metal prices are making lacklustre gains and the iron ore price gained 0.7 per cent to US$67.23 and its futures are pointing to rise 0.1 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 39 points or 0.6 per cent lower at 6,015. On the futures market the SPI is 32 points higher.
Economic newsRBA Governor gives a speech on productivity and wages at the Australian Industry Group in Melbourne at 1.30pm so we will give you the wrap in the afternoon news.
Company news Top 200 lithium company, Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) announced the commissioning of its flagship lithium-tantalum project, Pilgangoora in WA is underway. It comes as construction and power distribution is largely complete, putting the company on track to achieve first production of concentrate by the end of June, after it was affected by three cyclones. The company says it’s now on the cusp of becoming a lithium raw materials producer. Shares in Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) are trading 2 per cent lower at $0.86
ASX top 300 lithium company, Global Geoscience
(ASX:GSC) has entered into a trading halt after it announced plans to raise $53 million from an institutional placement at 41 cents. The monies will be used to fully fund its Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron project in Nevada, through to a mine development decision by late 2019. The new shares are at a 7.9 per cent discount to its close on 12 June at 44.5 cents.
IPOsVonex Limited
(ASX:VN8) started trading today, floating with an issue price of 13 cents, it opened at 13 cents and its trading at 14 cents. It provides mobile phones, home phones, broadband internet services.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is utilites adding 7.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is energy, shedding 1.3 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is APA Group
(ASX:APA), rising 21 per cent to $9.99, followed by shares in Gateway Lifestyle Group
(ASX:GTY) and Ausdrill Limited
(ASX:ASL).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Bellamy's Australia
(ASX:BAL), dropping 5.4 per cent to $16.56, followed by shares in Mineral Resources Limited
(ASX:MIN) and SIGMA Healthcare Limited
(ASX:SIG).
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.13 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.4 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,296 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.65 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin is lower at US$6,580, Ethereum is 6 per cent lower at US$499 and EOS has fallen about 10 per cent to US$10.28.
For more news tune into FNN.
