The Australian share market opened higher this morning but has fallen in the first two hours of trade. Resource stocks have dragged the market down, suffering losses on the back of a commodity retreat.
The Australian dollar is trading slightly lower following escalating US-China trade tensions.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 7 points lower at 6087. On the futures market the SPI is 8 points lower.
Local economic newsThe Short-term visitor arrivals increased 0.1 per cent in April when compared with March this followed monthly increases of 0.3 per cent for both February and March 2018. Meantime short-term resident returns to Australia increased 0.8 per cent increasing 0.1 per cent from March.
Company news The securities in Atlas Iron
(ASX:AGO) have been placed into a trading halt at the request of the company, pending the release of an announcement. There is media speculation that the iron ore company has received a takeover offer from Hancock Prospecting. The company has not yet commented on the speculation and the securities will remain in trading halt until Wednesday the 20th of June. The trading halt came after Atlas announced it had made its first shipment of lithium purchased from Pilbara Minerals to China.
Shares in Atlas Iron
(ASX:AGO) last traded at 4 cents.
Traffic Technologies Industries
(ASX:TTI) has provided the market with an earnings upgrade, announcing a 28 per cent increase in revenue for the 2018 financial year.
The growth in operating revenue has come off the back of a number of contracts including smart city software, as well as a number of export orders to supply traffic controllers.
Shares in Traffic Technologies
(ASX:TTI) are trading 5 per cent higher at 4 cents.
Finally Pancontinental Oil and Gas
(ASX:PCL) has announced it has mapped extensive high-potential and oil-prone turbitite fan “fairways” in its block on offshore Namibia.
The company says the project shows a variety of large exploration fairways each with the clear potential for multiple traps holding very large volumes of oil.
Shares in Pancontinental Oil and Gas
(ASX:PCL) trading flat four tenths of a cent.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Real Estate Investment Trust adding 0.6 per cent points while the worst performing sector is telcos shedding 1.9 per cent
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Saracen
(ASX:SAR), rising almost 3 per cent to $2.27, followed by shares in Grencross
(ASX:GXL) and St Barbara
(ASX:SBM).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Afterpay Touych Group
(ASX:APT), dropping 4.4 per cent to $8.72, followed by shares in Galaxy Resources(ASX: GXY) and SIMS Metal Management (ASX: SGM).
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong China are closed for the to dragon boat festival.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,282 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.37 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin is trading at 6478, Ethereum trading at 496 and EOS at $10.31.
