The Australian share market slipped into loss territory shortly after the market opened, despite commodity prices bouncing higher and mostly higher Wall Street leads. The positivity in resources price and on Wall Street came after China advised it would use fiscal stimulus to support its economy, while Google’s parent Alphabet posted strong earnings, seeing the stock jump about 4 per cent.
Regardless, of the overseas positivity, most of our sectors are trading in the red on the back of inflationary data missing expectations, while the Australian dollar continues to trade near its year-on-year low.
Just two sectors are making gains at noon today, miners are up the most after the commodity boost, with Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) gaining 2 per cent and BHP
(ASX:BHP) gaining the most among the heavyweights, about 2.5 per cent. We did see the Aluminium price hit a two-week high, gold pushed higher as well, along with oil prices, while the iron ore price slipped (0.3 per cent) to US$65.57, but it’s higher on the week. Its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.42 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 0.23 per cent lower or 14 points down at 6,252 On the futures market the SPI is 4 points lower. Yesterday we gained 0.6 per cent, not quite enough to make up for Monday’s 0.9 per cent slip though.
Economic newsAustralian inflationary data missed expectations, after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.1 per cent for the year to the June quarter 2018, (missing the 2.2 per cent mark expected). Even though it’s in the Governor and the Treasurer target for inflation (2–3 per cent), as it missed expectations, the market didn’t like that.
As for the June quarter 2018, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4 per cent in the according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, also less than expected (0.5 per cent).
Company news Wattle Health
(ASX:WHA) received Chinese approval for its pure Australian grass fed milk powder (1 kilo bag) to be sold in China. The range, SKU, will increase brand awareness and sales in China. It will also be showing its new SKU and infant formulae range at one of China’s largest trade fairs for children, babies and maternity. Shares in Wattle Health
(ASX:WHA) are trading 10.53 per cent higher at $1.16 at noon.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence company, BrainChip
(ASX:BRN) has announced its new product, Akida is now available. Akida Development Environment is a machine learning framework for the creation, training and testing of spiking neutral networks, which supports the development of company systems and on the company’s neuromorphic system-on-chip. It can be used in public safety, financial security, cybersecurity and healthcare, (just to name a few applications), which equates to a $4.5 billion opportunity for BrainChip. Shares in BrainChip
(ASX:BRN) are trading flat at $0.15 at noon.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is materials adding 1.2 per cent, while the worst performing sector is staples, shedding 1.5 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Independence Group Nl
(ASX:IGO), rising 5 per cent to $4.87, followed by shares in Afterpay Touch Group Limited
(ASX:APT) and CIMIC Group Limited
(ASX:CIM).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Tassal Group Limited
(ASX:TGR), dropping 3.7 per cent to $4.18, followed by shares in Nufarm Limited
(ASX:NUF) and Treasury Wine Estates Limited
(ASX:TWE).
Asian marketsHigher: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,225 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.08 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher. Bitcoin has gained 6.9 per cent to US$8,270, Ethereum has gained 5.1 per cent to US$476 and EOS has added the most, about 10.7 per cent to US$8.76.
