The Australian sharemarket has rallied through the afternoon despite losses made by the major banks, Macquarie
(ASX:MQG) and Janus Henderson
(ASX:JHG). Iron ore price continued its momentum and rose 0.8 per cent to US$ 68.19 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 0.2 per cent. At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 5 points lower, or 0.1 per cent lower to finish at 6276.
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 29 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 3.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing lift of 31.5 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 3 point rise for tomorrow morning.
Value of trades $5.1 billion on volume of 595 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 newsThe Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index fell 5.4 points to 52.0 in July, indicating continuing but slower growth across the manufacturing sector. National house prices fell for the 10th consecutive month in July, CoreLogic figures show, with the 0.6 per cent month-on-month fall bringing the annual decline to 1.6 per cent — the fastest rate since August 2012. House prices are now 1.9 per cent below their September 2017 peak.
Company news Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) announced their 2018 half year results underlying EBITDA rose 2 per cent to $US9.2b, for the six months to 30th June compared to the same time last year. While their underlying earnings rose 12 per cent but that was less than UBS forecast. Meantime Rio has completed the sale of its remaining coal assets in Queensland for $3.95 billion. The transactions include the sale of Rio Tinto’s interests in the Hail Creek coal mine and Valeria coal development project to Glencore for $1.7 billion, and its interest in the Kestrel underground coal mine to a consortium comprising private equity manager EMR Capital and PT Adaro Energy Tbk for $2.25 billion. Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) closed 0.6 per cent higher at $81.65
Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) has appointed Mark Wilson as Chief Financial Officer effective from the end of the month. Mr Wilson will be relocating to Perth from his current Sydney-based role with Laing O’Rourke, where he has been Finance Director for seven years. Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) long-serving CFO and Company Secretary, Bruce Goulds, will take a leave of absence to focus on his recovery from health-related issues before formally retiring from the Company in December. Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) closed 3.9 per cent higher at $17.20
Xero
(ASX:XRO) has aquired data capture software company, Hubdoc. The cloud based software accounting company will pay the acquisition price for Hubdoc in two stages, initially US$60 million consisting of 35 per cent cash and 65 per cent in Xero equity. A second tranche of US$10 million in equity will be issued to Hubdocs shareholders in 18 months.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(ASX:URW) is selling four shopping centres in Spain. The total transaction cost is €489 million and represents a net initial yield of 5.6 per cent. The sale is part of the €3 billion worth of disposals to be made by the company as part of its European asset rotation programme.
CIMIC Group’s
(ASX:CIM) mineral processing company, Sedgman has been awarded US$310 million in mineral processing contracts in South Africa. The design, engineering procurement and construction contract with Ledjadja Coal will generate revenue of US$210 million to Sedgman over 26 months.
Janus Henderson
(ASX:JHG) CEO Andrew Formica has resigned as director and co-chief executive officer. Dick Weil will assume full control of the merged funds management company effective immediately. Mr Formica will stay on as advisor until the end of the year.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was materials adding 0.7 per cent while the worst performing sector was financials shedding 0.7 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was ALS
(ASX:ALQ), rising 11.4 per cent to close at $8.30. Shares in Credit Corp Group
(ASX:CCP) and GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Janus Henderson Group
(ASX:JHG), dropping 7.79 per cent to close at $40.25. Shares in Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) and Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) followed lower.
Asian marketsMixed/higher/lower:Japan’s Nikkei has risen 0.86 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.25 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.95 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,221 an ounce.
Light crude is down $1.70 at $US68.43barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.10US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 7.2 per cent to US$7557, Ethereum has fallen 7.2 per cent to US$420 and EOS has fallen 4.5 per cent to US$7.28, in the last 24 hours.
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 29 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 3.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing lift of 31.5 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 3 point rise for tomorrow morning
Value of trades $5.1 billion on volume of 595 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 newsThe Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index fell 5.4 points to 52.0 in July, indicating continuing but slower growth across the manufacturing sector. National house prices fell for the 10th consecutive month in July, CoreLogic figures show, with the 0.6 per cent month-on-month fall bringing the annual decline to 1.6 per cent — the fastest rate since August 2012. House prices are now 1.9 per cent below their September 2017 peak.
Company news Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) announced their 2018 half year results underlying EBITDA rose 2 per cent to $US9.2b, for the six months to 30th June compared to the same time last year. While their underlying earnings rose 12 per cent but that was less than UBS forecast. Meantime Rio has completed the sale of its remaining coal assets in Queensland for $3.95 billion. The transactions include the sale of Rio Tinto’s interests in the Hail Creek coal mine and Valeria coal development project to Glencore for $1.7 billion, and its interest in the Kestrel underground coal mine to a consortium comprising private equity manager EMR Capital and PT Adaro Energy Tbk for $2.25 billion. Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) closed 0.6 per cent higher at $81.65
Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) has appointed Mark Wilson as Chief Financial Officer effective from the end of the month. Mr Wilson will be relocating to Perth from his current Sydney-based role with Laing O’Rourke, where he has been Finance Director for seven years. Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) long-serving CFO and Company Secretary, Bruce Goulds, will take a leave of absence to focus on his recovery from health-related issues before formally retiring from the Company in December. Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) closed 3.9 per cent higher at $17.20
Xero
(ASX:XRO) has aquired data capture software company, Hubdoc. The cloud based software accounting company will pay the acquisition price for Hubdoc in two stages, initially US$60 million consisting of 35 per cent cash and 65 per cent in Xero equity. A second tranche of US$10 million in equity will be issued to Hubdocs shareholders in 18 months.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(ASX:URW) is selling four shopping centres in Spain. The total transaction cost is €489 million and represents a net initial yield of 5.6 per cent. The sale is part of the €3 billion worth of disposals to be made by the company as part of its European asset rotation programme.
CIMIC Group’s
(ASX:CIM) mineral processing company, Sedgman has been awarded US$310 million in mineral processing contracts in South Africa. The design, engineering procurement and construction contract with Ledjadja Coal will generate revenue of US$210 million to Sedgman over 26 months.
Janus Henderson
(ASX:JHG) CEO Andrew Formica has resigned as director and co-chief executive officer. Dick Weil will assume full control of the merged funds management company effective immediately. Mr Formica will stay on as advisor until the end of the year.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was materials adding 0.7 per cent while the worst performing sector was financials shedding 0.7 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was ALS
(ASX:ALQ), rising 11.4 per cent to close at $8.30. Shares in Credit Corp Group
(ASX:CCP) and GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Janus Henderson Group
(ASX:JHG), dropping 7.79 per cent to close at $40.25. Shares in Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) and Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) followed lower.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has risen 0.86 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.25 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.95 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,221 an ounce.
Light crude is down $1.70 at $US68.43barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.10 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 7.2 per cent to US$7557, Ethereum has fallen 7.2 per cent to US$420 and EOS has fallen 4.5 per cent to US$7.28, in the last 24 hours.
