This week we saw the Australian share market (top 200 stocks) hit a fresh 10-year high, but profit taking today saw Aussie stocks fall from that new high. Coupled with that, metal and lithium prices back peddled and that dragged down miners today, with most of the sectors finishing in the red.
Telcos fell the most today, down 3.9 per cent, wiping out yesterday’s gains which were created when TPG
(ASX:TPM) and Vodafone Hutchinson
(ASX:HTA) gave the green light to create a new $15 billion Telco.
Broker upgrades and downgradesDomino's Pizza Enterprises
(ASX:DMP) fell 2.2 per cent after being downgraded from a buy to a neutral position, Goldman Sachs.
Sandfire
(ASX:SFR) saw profit taking falling, 8 per cent (wiping out the major of yesterday’s 8.6 per cent rise). We saw it upgraded to a neutral from sell by Citi, while Bell Potter has marked the company as a hold.
Meantime, Bell Potter marked Telstra
(ASX:TLS) and TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPG) as a sell and the due fell 4 and 7 per cent respectively.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 32 points lower, or 0.5 per cent lower, to finish at 6,320. Over the week, the index rose 72 points or 1.1 per cent.
Futures market Dow futures are flat.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 0.3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 4.8 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 15 point fall Monday morning.
Value of trades $7.9 billion on volume of 908 million shares at the close of trade. The top three stocks by value were CSL Limited
(ASX:CSL), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO).
Company news Aged care provider, Regis Healthcare
(ASX:REG) reported its net profit after tax slipped 12 to $53.9 million, while its revenue firmed 5 per cent higher in the 2018 financial year to $594.4 million. Shares in Regis Healthcare
(ASX:REG) closed 1.4 per cent lower at $3.50.
Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) has kicked off a capital raise via a $20 million share purchase plan. The plan is open to shareholders today, and is set to close on Monday 17 September 2018. Afterpay has already raised $117 million through an institutional placement. The proceeds from the raise will be used to accelerate its global expansion. Afterpay shares have gained 385 per cent year-on-year.
Transurban
(ASX:TCL) has won a bid for majority WestConnex ownership and also announced a $4.2 billion equity raising. Subject to Foreign Investment Review Board Approval, Transurban’s $4.65 billion purchase from the NSW Government, should be completed in late September. It comes as Transurban, is set to buy a 50 per cent stake in a consortium bid to buy 51 per cent of WestConnex for $9.3 billion.
Data centre operator NEXTDC
(ASX:NXT) reported its revenue rose 31 per cent to $161.5 million in the 2018 financial year while its profit fell $16.4 million on FY17, falling to $6.6 million.
Financial services company, Sequoia Financial Group
(ASX:SEQ) reported a stellar 226 per cent jump in its attributable net profit after tax in the 2018 financial year, with its headline figure hitting $2.3 million.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Health Care, adding 0.4 per cent, while the worst performing sector was Telco Services, shedding 3.9 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Atlas Arteria
(ASX:ALX), rising 3.9 per cent to close at $6.88. Shares in Primary Health Care
(ASX:PRY) and Bapcor
(ASX:BAP) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Sandfire Resources
(ASX:SFR), dropping 8.3 per cent to close at $7.10. Shares in TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM) and Perpetual
(ASX:PPT) followed lower.
Asian marketsLower. Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.03 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.2 per cent.
Wall Street Wrapped up the four trading days this week higher. The Dow Jones added 0.8 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.9 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 1.8 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at $US1,205 an ounce.
The iron ore price fell 2.2 per cent to $65.87.
Light crude is $0.54 up at $US70.05 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.56 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading mixed. Bitcoin has fallen 0.2 per cent to US$6,998, Ethereum has fallen 1.3 per cent to US$282 and EOS has gained 2.4 per cent to US$6.14.
