The Australian share market opened higher this morning is trading higher for the first time in eight trading days. The S&P/ASX 200 index is 28 points higher or 0.5 per cent higher at 6,169 at noom. The SPI is eyeing a 6 points gain
Telcos and Energy are leading the charge today and most of the sectors higher, while we are seeing minor losses in health and discretionary players.
Broker movesIPH
(ASX:IPH) had their buy rating reiterated by Bell Potter. It’s trading 0.3 per cent higher at noon.
BHP’s
(ASX:BHP) spin-off, South32
(ASX:S32) has been upgraded to a buy by Deutsche Bank. Its shares are trading 2.7 per cent.
Economic newsPersonal finance lending fell 1.6 per cent in July and lease finance rose by 3.8 per cent both in trend terms, according to the ABS.
Company newsCIMIC Group’s
(ASX:CIM) 50/50 partnership with Ventia has inked a road network contract in Western Australia that’s worth $190 million in revenue to Ventia. The contracts are for maintenance and infrastructure services work across the state and Pilbara network. Its shares are trading at a year high and today CIMIC’s shares are 0.8 per cent higher at $49.85 at noon.
a2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) presented to CLSA in Hong Kong, and its shares have pushed closer toward its 8-day moving average. The milk and infant formulae company noted
in its presentation that it expects further growth in revenue in ANZ and China and liquid milk in the US. Going forward it advised its marketing expenditure as a percentage of sales, will higher than FY18 and overhead costs are also expected to be higher than FY18 on the back of the company increasing its headcount in China and in the corporate office. Shares in A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M) are trading 3.95 per cent higher at $11.04 at noon.
IPOsHealthia Limited
(ASX:HLA) started trading today. The provider of allied health services in Australia floated with an issue price of $1.00, opened at $1.20 and its trading at $1.21.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is S&P/ASX Energy adding 1.8 per cent, while the worst performing sector is S&P/ASX Consumer Discretionary, shedding 0.4 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Wisetech Global Limited
(ASX:WTC), rising 7.1 per cent to $22.40, followed by shares in TPG Telecom Limited
(ASX:TPM) and NEXTDC Limited
(ASX:NXT).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Inghams Group Limited
(ASX:ING), dropping 3.4 per cent to $3.71, followed by shares in Infigen Energy
(ASX:IFN) and Metcash Limited
(ASX:MTS).
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has added about 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is flat.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1,194 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 1.0 to US$67.81 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 1.1 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.09 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin has gained 0.6 per cent to US$6,371, Ethereum has fallen about 1.2 per cent to US$198.
