The Australian share market opened lower this morning then saw an early sell off. Bellamys
(ASX:BAL) Seven Group Holdings
(ASX:SVW) and Afterpay
(ASX:APT) have all seen declines. BHP
(ASX:BHP) was dragging the market. Galaxy Resources though
(ASX:GXY) gained over 6 per cent. Financials excluding REIT is the best performing sector but healthcare didn’t fare as well in the first two hours of trade.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 21 points or 0.3 per cent lower at 5,922 at noon. On the futures market the SPI is 16 points lower.
Company newsAustal
(ASX:ASB) today announced Austal USA has been awarded an order worth almost $50 million US dollars to fund the procurement of long lead-time materials for the construction of a high speed catamaran to deploy troops. This will be the thirteenth vessel ordered by the US Navy from Austal. The materials will include diesel engines, water jets and reduction gears. Austal was awarded the initial contract to design and build the first 103-metre vessel in November 2008. Shares in Austal
(ASX:ASB) are 0.6 per cent higher to $1.81.
The Board of Queensland Bauxite
(ASX:QBL) is very pleased to announce that its soon to be wholly owned subsidiary Medcan Australia, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with top Israeli medicinal cannabis company Pharmocann. It's amongst the world’s experienced cannabis growers. This MOU follows on from Medcan securing its Medical Cannabis Manufacturing License and Export License from the Office of Drug Control (ODC). They will manufacture Pharmocann’s medical cannabis products in Australia for distribution throughout Australia and globally under a 50/50 JV. Queensland Bauxite
(ASX:QBL) last traded at 4 cents.
And WAM Capital
(ASX:WAM) ahead of their AGM has written to shareholders asking them to approve a refresh of the company's 15 per cent placement allocation. As well voting on the appointment of a new director and a re-appointment of new directors. Trading 0.4 per cent higher at $2.48
IPOsVanadium and oil shale company QEM
(ASX:QEM) started trading today. They floated with an issue price of $0.20, opened at $0.21 and its trading at $0.19 and half.To watch our interview with the QEM’s Executive Director, David Fitch and its Chief Geologist and General Manager, Scott Drelincourt.
Check out the interview at our website.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Financials excluding REIT adding 0.2 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Healthcare, shedding 1.3 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY), rising 6.4 per cent to $2.34, followed by shares in Saracen Mineral Holdings
(ASX:SAR) and Resolute Mining
(ASX:RSG).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Bellamy's Australia
(ASX:BAL),dropping 3.8 per cent to $8.17, followed by shares in AfterPay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) and Emeco
(ASX:EHL).
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1227 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 0.3 per cent to US$73.58 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 1.3 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.01 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading lower Bitcoin has fallen 0.9 per cent to US$6485, Ethereum fallen about 1.7 per cent to US$204 and XRP lost 2 per cent to US$0.46.
