The Australian share market slumped for the second straight session taking the stock market back to late October levels.
From the outset we had negative leads from as the oil price sank to US$55.19, hitting a near year low after Trump urged OPEC and Saudi Arabia to maintain its policy of rising output, to cap oil prices. Coupled with that, Wall Street failed to recover from its sell-off with the likes of Exxon Mobile losing 2.3 per cent.
That sentiment flowed through to the ASX with energy leading most sectors lower.
Broker moves Citi increased Navitas
(ASX:NVT) profit forecast. Navitas shares gained 0.6 per cent.
S&P/ASX 200 index Closed 1.7 per cent lower 101 points lower, at 5,733.
Futures market Dow futures are suggesting a fall of 16 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 1 point.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing lift of 1 point.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 99 point fall tomorrow morning
Economic newsAustralia wages rose 0.6 per cent in the September quarter, in line with expectations. Over the year though, wages (wage price index) rose 2.3 per cent (according to the ABS) and that was also in line with expectation.
Company news Industrial supply company, Pact Group Holdings
(ASX:PGH) shares fell almost 10 per cent today, hitting a four year low, after it announced after the company downgraded its FY2019 outlook with earnings for the first half of FY2019 to be weaker than the pcp, on the back of higher than expected resin and manufacturing materials costs. Shares in Pact Group Holdings
(ASX:PGH) closed 9.7 per cent lower at $3.25.
Washington H. Soul Patts
(ASX:SOL) shares hit a new all-time high today, and year-on-year its shares are up almost 80 per cent. It comes as education provider, Redhill Education
(ASX:RDH) increased its major holding in the investment house to over 8 per cent stake. Be sure to check out our website tomorrow for an interview with CEO and MD Todd Barlow.
Talent management platform, Livehire
(ASX:LVH) landed its largest direct enterprise agreement, after it inked a deal with Vodafone Hutchinson Australia
(ASX:HTA). The firm will provide the tech giant with its sourcing, engagement and talent hiring platform. Shares in Livehire
(ASX:LVH) gained 15.4 per cent.
The sales financing company, which runs GraysOnline, Eclipx Group
(ASX:ECX) reported a 15 per cent rise in net profit for the year ending 30 September 2018, taking its NPAT to $62.2 million. The growth came on the back of growth in all segments with results being in with revised guidance.
IPOsHearts and Minds Investments
(ASX:HM1) starts trading today. It issue shares $2.50, opened at $2.59 and it closed at $2.54 after it raised $500 million. Our interview with Chairman will be coming soon to FNN.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Telco Services adding 0.2 per cent while the worst performing sector was Energy, shedding 2.6 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was CYBG PLC
(ASX:CYB), rising 3.4 per cent to close at $4.094. Shares in CTD
(ASX:CTD) and Washington H. Soul Pattinson & Company Limited
(ASX:SOL) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Aveo Group
(ASX:AOG), dropping 9.8 per cent to close at $1.70. Shares in Pact Group Holdings
(ASX:PGH) and Elders Limited (ASX: ELD) followed lower.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has added 0.2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.1 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,203 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 0.4 per cent to US$75.73 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 0.9 per cent.
Light crude is US4.65 lower at US$55.43 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.18 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesBitcoin has shed 0.4 per cent to US$6,352 Ethereum has lost 1.4 per cent to US$206 and Bitcoin Cash has added 2.1 per cent to US$521, in the last 24 hours.
