The Australian share market finished largely unchanged, not even 2 whole points higher. After opening in the black, the local bourse lost momentum on the back of negative leads and the Discretionary sector weighing. We saw the likes the likes of Kogan
(ASX:KGN) slip over 7 per cent and Breville
(ASX:BRG) lose over 3 per cent.
Over half of the market made gains on Tuesday with Energy overtaking Telcos after Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) rose 1.8 per cent. But it wassn’t enough for us to claw back from the ASX’s losses yesterday of 0.4 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 2 points higher, or 0.03 per cent higher, to finish at 6,280.
Monthly July close summaryTelcos rose the most, 7.9 per cent,
Industrials gained 3.5 per cent,
Consumer Discretionary rose 2.1 per cent,
Health and Financials rose 2.1 per cent
Energy closed 0.9 per cent higher.
While only three sectors reversed in July
Utilities lost 1.4 per cent,
Staples slipped 0.5 per cent,
Materials lost 0.1 per cents,
And REITs finished flat
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a gain of 22 points.
S&P500 futures are suggesting a gain of 4 points.
Nasdaq futures are suggesting a gain of 17.5.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 10 point rise.
Value of trades $5.4 billion on volume of 670 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO).
Economic newsTotal building approvals rose by 6.4 per cent in June, far surpassing the 0.2 per cent lift some economists expected. It was largely driven by a 7.2 per cent lift in private dwellings excluding houses. While, private houses rose 5.0 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms.
Company news McGrath
(ASX:MEA) has confirmed it will achieve its earnings guidance for the finanical year ending 30 June 2018, with EBITDA tipped to be $1 million, after payinga $4 million one-off cost. It expects to recognise an extra impairment of $35 million against the company’s owned sales segment. The assets were brought onto the balance sheet as part of McGrath’s acquisitions in 2015. (This impairment is in addition to the amount advised in February 2018). Shares in McGarth
(ASX:MEA) closed 2.6 per cent higher at $0.39.
Flight Centre Travel Group
(ASX:FLT) signed a letter of intent with online travel booking company, Serko
(ASX:SKO) to extend their partnership and as a result Serko rose its FY19 revenue growth guidance, from 15-30 per cent, up to 20 to 30 per cent higher than FY18.
Bubs Australia
(ASX:BUB) has announced its net sales rose 620 per cent to $8.5 million in the fourth quarter to 30 June 2018, compared to the same time last year on the back of increased online China sales.
Village Roadshow
(ASX:VRL) completed the retail component of its entitlement offer, raising $15.7 million, with institutional proceeds totalling $35.7 million, taking the total gross proceeds to $51 million.
Origin Energy
(ASX:ORG) reported a 42 per cent rise in revenue for Australia Pacific LNG over the 2018 financial year, compared to the same time last year, on the back of increased production and higher average realised prices for LNG and domestic gas.
And Australian gold production and exploration company, Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL) released its June quarter results noting an increase in gold production in the fourth quarter to 92,008 ounces, a rise from the prior quarter’s 85,331 ouches. Over the quarter its all in sustaining costs rose from $906 to $982 per ounce, while cash from operations increased. Its FY19 gold production is tipped to be between 340,000 to 370,000 ounces.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector was Energy adding 1.1 per cent while the worst performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, shedding 0.9 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Credit Corp Group
(ASX:CCP), rising 8.5 per cent to close at $20.58. (To watch the CEO deliver its full results, check out the
presentation or watch the summary in our
Midday report.) Shares in Janus Henderson Group
(ASX:JHG) and Greencross
(ASX:GXL) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL), dropping 10.80 per cent to close at $4.46. Shares in Wisetech Global
(ASX:WTC) and Altium
(ASX:ALU) followed lower.
Asian marketsMixed: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.3 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,222 an ounce.
Light crude is $1.40 up at $US70.09 barrel.
Iron ore is 0.2 per cent higher at $67.65.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 0.2 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.3 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin has fallen 0.1 per cent to US$8,157, Ethereum fallen about 2.4 per cent to US$452 and EOS has fallen about 6.4 per cent to US$7.66.
