The Australian share market opened lower and continues to fall - it’s now tracking at 0.5 per cent lower at noon. The Australian dollar is also falling now buying US72.78 cents. We are seeing the likes of Capilano Honey
(ASX:CZZ) and Private health insurance fund NIB
(ASX:NIB) doing well today. The Energy sector is leading the way and the Materials sector trailing behind. Iron ore price fell $1.07 to $68.71 a tonne and its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.3 per cent. The S&P/ASX 200 index is 30 points down at 6249. On the futures market the SPI is 22 points lower.
Company news Oil and gas producer Santos
(ASX:STO) has launched a fourth gas rig at Cooper Basin in South Australia, as it looks to ramp up output to supply markets in the east of the country. The rig will drill eight wells by the end of this year, starting in the Big Lake field. It will then move to Moomba South, drilling four appraisal wells there, sustaining Cooper Basin jobs. Santos is on track to supply about 70 petajoules of gas into the east coast domestic market in 2018, which is almost 13 per cent of expected demand. Shares in Santos
(ASX:STO) trading up 0.86 per cent to $6.42.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Energy adding 0.41 per cent to 12148 points while the worst performing sector is materials, shedding 1.2 per cent to 11811 points.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Eclipx
(ASX:ECX) rising 9.5 per cent to $2.08, followed by shares in NIB Holdings
(ASX:NHF) and Domain Holdings
(ASX:DHG).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Nufarm
(ASX:NUF) dropping 10.74 per cent to $6.73, followed by shares in News Corp
(ASX:NWS) and SIMS Metal Management
(ASX:SGM).
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has lost 1.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 1.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1209 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 7270 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed. Bitcoin has gained 0.7 per cent to US$6349, Ethereum fallen about 0.4 per cent to US$321 and Eos is down 0.1 to $5.05.
