The Australian share market closed higher for the second week, after the top 200 stocks (ASX200) rose 0.4 per cent with the Materials, IT and Consumer Staples sectors leading the rally today. Takeover talks also helped buoy the market and a new cannabis stock came onto the market and it made a gain of over 200 per cent.
Broker movesBody, hair and skin care company, BWX
(ASX:BWX) was reinstated as buy by Golden Sachs.
Centuria Capital
(ASX:CNI) was earmarked as a buy by Shaw and Partners with a price target of $1.59.
Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) was marked as a buy by Citi. Its price target is $87.00 (12 months), with an expected return of over 20.2 per cent.
MarketAt the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 25 points higher, or 0.4 per cent lower to finish at 6,195. Over the week, it closed 29 points higher, or 0.46 per cent higher.
Futures marketDow futures are suggesting a rise of 37 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 2 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing lift of 13 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 20 point rise Monday morning.
Most traded stocksThe top three most traded stocks by value were BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP), Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
Company news Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) shares reached levels they were last trading at, in the beginning of this month, taking the shares closer to their 50-day moving average. It comes as the company issued more shares onto the market, just days after releasing drilling results from its Cauchari drilling program in Argentina, which the market must have liked as its shares on are a two-day rally, after seeing some selling of late. Shares in Orocobre closed 7 per cent higher at $4.11.
Propertylink Group
(ASX:PLG) received a $1.15 cash takeover offer from ESR Real Estate. The acquisition is subject to Propertylink not proceeding with the takeover of Centuria’s Industrial REIT
(ASX:CIP). Centuria Capital Group
(ASX:CNI) is the largest shareholder of Property Group
(ASX:PLG), owning about 11 per cent of PLG shares. And prior to Centuria Capital Group
(ASX:CNI) and Centuria Industrial Reit
(ASX:CIP) buying into PLG in September 2017, PLG shares failed to trade above their IPO price of $0.89. Shares in Propertylink Group
(ASX:PLG) gained 9.5 per cent today and Centuria Capital Group
(ASX:CNI) rose by 6.11 per cent.
The Flight Centre Travel Group
(ASX:FLT) fast-tracked its digital transformation by buying a business that has revolutionised the traditional travel itinerary, a Canadian based company, Unmapped.
And Atlas Arteria
(ASX:ALX) completed the acquisition of Germany’s Warnow Tunnel for €3.7 million.
IPOsMedicinal cannabis company, Althea Group Holdings Limited
(ASX:AGH) started trading today. It floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.60 and closed at $0.56.
Cyber security company, archTIS Limited
(ASX:AR9) started trading today. It floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.205 (20.5 cents) and closed at $0.185 (18.5 cents).
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Materials, adding 1.5 per cent while the worst performing sector was REITs, shedding 0.5 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Orocobre
(ASX:ORE), rising 7 per cent to close at $4.11. Shares in Saracen Mineral Holdings
(ASX:SAR) and Greencross
(ASX:GXL) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Pendal Group
(ASX:PDL), dropping 5.2 per cent to close at $8.69. Shares in Premier Investments
(ASX:PMV) and Spark Infrastructure
(ASX:SKI) followed lower.
Asian marketsHigher. Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 1.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 1.7 per cent.
Wall Street Wrapped up our four trading days this week higher. The Dow Jones added 1.9 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.9 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 0.2 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,209 an ounce.
The iron ore price fell 0.4 per cent to US$69.18. Its futures are flat.
Light crude is US$0.60 lower at US$70.17 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.92 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher. Bitcoin has gained 2.1 per cent to US$6,550, Ethereum has gained 6.5 per cent to US$222 and XRP has gained 40.6 per cent to US$0.46, in the last 24 hours.
