Building and banks lift: ASX up 0.3% at noon

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

The Australian share market opened flat but is now tracking 18 points higher or 0.3 per cent higher at noon. Building materials giant Boral (ASX:BLD) rose after seeing a leap in profits after expanding its operations in the US and the strength in Australian construction market. Meanwhile, telcos are struggling - other companies seeing falls are Afterpay (ASX:APT) and Orocobre (ASX:ORE). Financials are leading the way. Iron ore price rose 0.1 per cent to $65.88 a ton and its futures are pointing to a 0.51 per cent rise. The S&P/ASX 200 index is 18 points up at 6323. On the futures market the SPI is 21 points higher.

Company news

Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX:MAQ) has entered into additional contracts for the provision of data services to a Fortune 100 customer. Macquarie Telecom Group will invest approximately $8.4 million in data centre mechanical and electrical over the next eight months to expand capacity to meet this demand. Macquarie telecom Group is a data centre, cloud, cyber security and telecom company for mid to large businesses and and government customers. Shares Macquarie Telecom Group (ASX:MAQ) are trading 0.5 per cent higher at $23.70

IPOs

Black Dragon Gold Corp.(ASX:BDG) started trading at noon today. Issue price 20 cents in ordinary fully paid shares.

Best and worst performers

The best performing sector is Financials excluding REITS adding 0.8 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Telcos, shedding 1.5 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Boral (ASX:BLD), rising 7.8 per cent to $6.92, followed by shares in Pact Group Holdings (ASX:PGH) and Bellamy’s (ASX:BAL).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Reliance Worldwide Corporation (ASX:RWC),dropping 5.2 per cent to $5.45, followed by shares in Afterpay Touch (ASX:APT) and Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL).

Asian markets 

Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is flat and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.2 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,203 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.4 US cents.

Cryptocurrencies

Some of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higherBitcoin has gained 2.5 per cent to US$7076 Ethereum gained about 3.8 per cent to US$297 and EOS gained 10 per cent to $5.88.


 

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