The market went quiet for a while as everyone stopped to watch the race that stops the nation – the Melbourne Cup, but it clawed back up to close 1 per cent higher. Domain Holdings
(ASX:DHG) is down as the housing market cools and shares in ladies' clothing store Noni B
(ASX:NBL) dropped dramatically this afternoon. The RBA leaves interest rates on hold in November. REITS was the best performing sector whereas consumer discretionary was the worst performing sector.
Broker moves Cochlear
(ASX:COH) has been marked as a buy by Citi. It's trading 0.4 per cent higher
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 57 points higher, or 1 per cent higher to finish at 5,875.
Futures marketDow futures are suggesting a rise of 21 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 1 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing fall of 6 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 37 point rise tomorrow.
Value of trades The top three stocks by value were Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) BHP Billiton Limited
(ASX:BHP) and NAB
(ASX:NAB)Economic newsThe RBA kept its official cash rate on hold at 1.5 per cent at its Cup Day meeting. Over the past year, GDP increased by 3.4 per cent and the unemployment rate declined to 5 per cent, the lowest in six years.
Company news CIMIC
(ASX:CIM) Group’s mineral processing company, Sedgman, has been awarded contracts with Mach Energy and QCoal to operate and maintain the Mount Pleasant and Byerwen coal handling and preparation plants. The contracts have a combined value of $100 million. The contract with Mach Energy to operate and maintain the Mount Pleasant site at Muswellbrook in New South Wales will generate revenue to Sedgman of approximately $75 million over three years. Shares in CIMIC Group
(ASX:CIM) are trading 0.2 per cent lower to $46.77
Yellowtail kingfish breeder and producer, Clean Seas Seafood
(ASX:CSS) has reported a 7 per cent rise in fresh sales in the first quarter of FY19, compared to the same time last year.
Spark New Zealand
(ASX:SPK) has pleaded guilty to two historical billing and operational issues that were brought forth by the New Zealand Commerce Commission.
The Commonwealth Bank
(ASX:CBA) has today announced that its joint bid with Link Administration and Morgan Stanley to acquire Property Exchange Australia (PEXA) has been accepted by shareholders holding a majority of PEXA's shares. As part of the transaction CBA will invest a further $50 million totalling about $100 million invested in PEXA to date.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector was REITs adding 1.7 per cent while the worst performing sector was Discretionaries, shedding 0.4 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Incitec Pivot
(ASX:IPL), rising 4.5 per cent to close at $4.20. Shares in and Western Areas
(ASX:WSA) and Bellamy's
(ASX:BAL) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Appen
(ASX:APX),dropping 2.6 per cent to close at $10.44. Shares in Sky City Entertainment Group
(ASX:SKC) and CYBG
(ASX:CYB) followed lower.
Asian marketsMixed:Japan’s Nikkei has added 1.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.2 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,229 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 2.4 per cent to US$75.74. Its futures are pointing to a rise of 1 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.45 lower at US$62.69 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.16 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher: Bitcoin has gained 0.03 per cent to US$6433, Ethereum has gained 0.3 per cent to US$209 and Bitcoin Cash has gained about 1.9 per cent to US$555, in the last 24 hours.
