The Australian share market is starting to bounce back from yesterday’s losses and is 0.2 per cent higher at noon with over half of the major sectors in profit territory with earnings season boosting sentiment.
Before the open, Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) reported its net profit attributable to shareholders rose over 100 per cent $29 million, at noon its shares are 7.3 per cent higher.
While we also saw Eclipx Group
(ASX:ECX) claw back some of its losses made yesterday when it shed 40 per cent. (At noon it’s trading 10.4 per cent higher).
Overnight we saw the base metals, gold and oil rise. While the iron ore price continues its rally, rising 0.4 per cent to US$69.42, while iron ore futures are pointing to a lift of 0.1 per cent.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 15 points or 0.2 per cent higher at noon at 6,269. On the futures market the SPI is 12 points higher.
Economic newsTotal housing finance fell 1.6 per cent in (June) in trend terms, while home loans fell 1.1 per cent from May to June (seasonally adjusted terms), disappointing the market who expected a rise of 0.2 per cent.
The RBA Governor will give a speech about demographic changes and recent monetary policy just after 1pm AEST.
Company news The owner of about 90 freehold pubs around Australia, ALE Property Group,
(ASX:LEP) reported its distributable profit hit $29 million for the year ending 30 June 2018, while it increased its full year distribution by 2 per cent to 20.8 cents per security, 100 per cent tax deferred. It also advised it’s kicked off a market rent review of 80 properties for FY19, which is expected to deliver a positive result. You can watch the full interview with ALE’s Managing Director, Andrew Wilkinson, on their result on
our website. At noon, ALE Property Group shares are trading 1.3 per cent higher at $5.50.
The a2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) advised its current UK businesses chief executive Scott Wotherspoon is stepping down after about five years in the business. In the immediate term, day-to-day exec management of the UK arm will be managed by Simon Hennessy, who’s GM of International Development. The outgoing UK exec will assist Simon until 30 September 2018, before transitioning to a permanent hire in coming months. Shares in the a2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) are trading 1 per cent lower at $9.50 at noon.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is financials adding 0.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is utilies, shedding 0.5.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Eclipx Group
(ASX:ECX), rising 10.4 per cent to $1.99, followed by shares in Tabcorp Holdings
(ASX:TAH) and AMP
(ASX:AMP).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN), dropping 6.6 per cent to $0.57, followed by shares in Domino’s Pizza Enterprises
(ASX:DMP) and Mcmillan Shakespeare Limited
(ASX:MMS).
Asian marketsMixed: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,213 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.27 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower. Bitcoin has fallen 5 per cent to US$6,630, Ethereum has lost about 7 per cent to US$379 and Ethereum Classic has shed about 13 per cent to US$17.02.
