The Australian share market continued its rally, rising 1.1 per cent today, with all sectors making gains by the afternoon.
Healthcare continued its run, rising the most 2.7 per cent after CSL saw a lift of 3.7 per cent, with Utilities, Telcos, Materials, Financials, and Energy gaining over 1 per cent, which helped the S&P/ASX 200 index to close 63 points higher, at 5,728.
Broker movesReece
(ASX:REH) has been upgraded to a buy by Citi with the broker citing an upbeat AGM and guidance in line with Citi’s forecast, with organic growth up 6 per cent and growth including M&A up 12 per cent. It gained 1.9 per cent today.
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a fall of 39 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a fall of 5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing rise of 11 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 49 point rise tomorrow.
Most traded stocksThe top three stocks by value were CSL
(ASX:CSL), BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia
(ASX:CBA).
Company news Industrial mineral company, Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) broke its five-day losing streak, rising 8.6 per cent after it advised its primary classifier unit arrived on site and has been placed into position, with the unit repair progressing as planned. Syrah says the remaining installation works, commission and 'return to full production' are remaining on track. Shares in Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR) closed 8.6 per cent higher at $1.52
Ramsay Healthcare
(ASX:RHC) announced its French subsidiary Ramsay Generale de Sante had its offer for healthcare services company, Capio accepted by 96 per cent of shareholders and, as such, the offer is now unconditional. The value for the offer is about €788 million, or AUD$1.3 billion.
ResMed
(ASX:RMD) had its neutral rating maintained by Citi, while Citi upgraded its price target to $15.20. It noted its recent results were strong, with a 13 per cent lift in revenue (on a constant currency basis), 4 per cent ahead of Citi's expectation.
Kogan
(ASX:KGN) shares took a tumble of 33 per cent today after announcing it saw its global brands revenue fall 27 per cent in the first quarter of FY19, compared to the same time last year. While, partner brands revenue lifted 73 per cent in the first quarter, on the back of on-boarding of new brands, while headline July 2018 revenue lifted 33 per cent. Its shares are now trading where they sat almost a year ago in August 2017.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Health Care, adding 2.7 per cent, while the sector with the fewest gains was Consumer Discretionary, gaining 0.2 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR), rising 8.6 per cent to close at $1.52. Shares in Mayne Pharma Group
(ASX:MXX) and Lynas Corporation
(ASX:LYC) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Emeco Holdings
(ASX:EHL), dropping 8.8 per cent to close at $0.26. Shares in Seven West Media
(ASX:SWM) and Treasury Wine Estate
(ASX:TWE) followed lower.
Asian marketsMixed: Japan’s Nikkei is practically flat, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.6 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,233 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 0.6 per cent to US$76.48 and its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.7 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.26 up at US$67.59 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.05 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin has lost 0.1 per cent to US$6,477, Ethereum has gained 0.1 per cent to US$205 and EOS has lost 0.1 per cent to US$5.39.
