The Australian share market opened lower this morning and is now trading flat at noon. The Healthcare sector is leading the way and the Materials sector is trailing behind. Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) are performing well so far today - they responded to ASIC's report into the Buy Now Pay Later Industry – welcoming the proposed regulations. oOh!Media
(ASX:OML) also saw a rise after announcing Brisbane City Council voted to approve Adshel street furniture contract. oOh!Media acquired Adshel in September this year. Meanwhile, Saracen Mineral Holdings
(ASX:SAR) is down 9 per cent as is Ausdrill
(ASX:ASL) and AMP
(ASX:AMP). The S&P/ASX 200 index is 10 points down at 5718, that's 0.2 per cent. On the futures market the SPI is 14 points lower.
Local economic newsThe trend estimate for total construction was flat in the September quarter 2018. The seasonally adjusted estimate for total construction work done fell 2.8 per cent in the September quarter.
The trend estimate for total building work done rose 0.7 per cent in the September quarter.
The trend estimate for non-residential building work fell 0.9 per cent and residential building work rose 1.5 per cent.
Company newsInternet company Arq Group
(ASX:ARQ) has today announced some changes to their leadship team. Emma Hunt, Managing Director for SMB will begin parental leave for the next year from February. Brett Fenton, currently Chief Technology Officer, will assume the leadership of their SMB business for that duration. Brett joined Arq Group when Netregistry was acquired and, in addition to his current role as Chief Technology Officer, has previously held other executive roles including Chief Customer Officer of Arq and Chief Operating Officer of Netregistry. Shares in Arq Group
(ASX:ARQ) are down 0.23 per cent to $2.19
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Healthcare adding 0.7 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Materials, shedding 1.2 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT), rising 7.32 per cent to $13.92, followed by shares in oOh!Media
(ASX:OML) and ALS
(ASX:ALQ).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Saracen Mineral Holdings
(ASX:SAR), dropping 7.42 per cent to $2.37, followed by shares in Ausdrill
(ASX:ASL) and AMP
(ASX:AMP).
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,214 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 1.5 per cent per cent to US$65.19 and its futures are pointing to a rise of 0.42 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.28 US cents.
CryptocurrenciesSome of the most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher/lower/mixed. Bitcoin has gained 2.4 per cent to US$3,841, Ethereum gained about 3.82 per cent to US$111 and EOS down 2.7 per cent to $3.05.
