The Australian sharemarket has continued to lift today and closed up despite profits from the Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) being below market expectations. At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 15 points up or 0.2 per cent higher to finish at 6269. As for the sectors, materials were leading the way with utilities dragging behind. While iron ore price gained 0.4 per cent to $69.42 and its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.58 per cent
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 4 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a fall of 0.5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing fall of 6.8 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 7 point rise tomorrow morning
Value of trades $5.8 billion on volume of 719 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA) Amcor
(ASX:AMC) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO)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 Reserve Bank of Australia boss Philip Lowe says the best course of action is to keep the cash rate at record lows for the time being.
Company news Accommodation and recreational vehicle company the Fleetwood Corporation
(ASX:FWD) has today completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Modular Building Systems for $34.15 million plus a potential earnout. This provides a strong entry point for Fleetwood into the New South Wales corrections, education and commercial sectors.
Shares in Fleetwood Corporation
(ASX:FWD) closed flat at $2.26
Australia’s largest bank, The Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) has reported its net cash profit after tax (NPAT) (continuing operations incl. one-offs) fell by about 4.8 per cent on financial year 17 to $9.2 billion for the 2018 financial year. The result missed UBS expectations of $9.55 billion
AMP
(ASX:AMP) has reported a fall in its profit for the half year to 30 June by 74 per cent to $115 million when compared to the prior corresponding period. The wealth management company's revenue decreased by 6 per cent to $7.17 billion. During the six month period AMP was served with five competing shareholder class actions which followed the Royal Commission and allege breaches by AMP of its continuous disclosure obligations.
Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) has reported its net profit for the period attributable to members for the 2018 financial year was $28.7 million. This compares with a loss of $20.8 million for the 2017 financial year.
The a2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) UK business chief executive Scott Wotherspoon is stepping down after about five years in the business.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Materials adding 0.6 per cent while the worst performing sector was Utlilities, shedding 0.5 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Eclipx Group
(ASX:ECX), rising 10.6 per cent to close at $1.99. Shares in Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) and Lynas
(ASX:LYC) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN), dropping 5.7 per cent to close at $0.58. Shares in Sigma Healthcare
(ASX:SIG) and McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS) followed lower.
Asian marketsMixed:Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.08 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.03 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.2 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,213 an ounce.
Light crude is $0.08 up at $US69.09 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.21 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower: Bitcoin has fallen 6 per cent to US$6563, Ethereum has fallen 8.2 per cent to US$374 and EOS has fallen about 14.2 per cent to US$6.04.
