Coca Cola to sell SPC: Aus shares close 1.6% lower

Market Reports

by Katrina Bullock

We have seen a sea of red today on the Australian share market. We opened lower this morning and saw heavy sell offs throughout the day, closing 1.6 per cent lower. All of the sectors ended the day in the red, with Consumer Staples and Property being the worst drags on the market.

The S&P/ASX 200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 91 points lower to finish at 5,667.

Today's negative result has wiped out the gains the market has seen over the past 3 days. Over the week the market has lost 49 points or 0.9 per cent.

Broker Moves

Bell Porter has upgraded coal producer, Coronado Global Resources, (ASX:CRN) to a buy, with a 12-month price target of $4.10. This follows its forecast that the company will have a high dividend yield of around 16% in 2019, mature assets and no major growth capex. Shares in Coronado Global Resources (ASX:CRN) closed 0.7% higher at $3.07.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a fall of 10 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a dip of 3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a fall of 3 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 85 point fall on Monday morning.

Most traded stocks

At the close of trade the most traded stocks by value were CSL (ASX:CSL), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) and BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP).

Company news

Tickforce (ASX:TKF) has executed all commercial agreements for the sale of the Tikforce business to Gambier in accordance with shareholder approval, which they received earlier this month. $100,000 has been received with the final $150,000 payment due before 8 January 2019. Gambier are now entitled to the income and profits of the business and responsible for all operating costs.

Coca Cola Amatil's share price has taken a hit today (ASX:CCL) following the company's announcement that it is selling its SPC fruit and tomato business in Shepparton, Victoria.

Mining services company Ausdrill (ASX:ASL) has released the first quarter financial year 2019 business update for its wholly owned subsidiary, Barminco Holdings. Barminco's EBITDA is up 23.7 per cent on the prior corresponding period.

Coal producer, Yancoal (ASX:YAL) has allocated over 68 million new shares to investors under the global offering at an offer price of 23.48 Hong Kong dollar per Share, that's equivalent to 4.15 Australian dollar per share, to raise total proceeds of just over $1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars. The global offering is fully underwritten.

The Reject Shop (ASX:TRS) has appointed two new directors, Matthew Campbell and Jack Hanrahan. The appointments will take effect on or around 10 December 2018.

Litigation funding company, IMF Bentham (ASX:IMF) has launched its second US investment vehicle, investing in US litigation opportunities. The fund is initially planned to be US$500 million in size and will offer investors exposure to a series of managed accounts.

IPOs

Nanotech video lens company, Nanoveu Limited (ASX:NVU) started trading today. It floated with an issue price of 20 cents, opened at 18.5 cents and closed at 13 cents.

Redcape Hotel Group (ASX:RDC) also started trading today. It floated with an issue price of $1.13, opened at $1.10 and it closed at $1.04.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Materials which still took a loss of 0.7 per cent. The worst performing sector was Consumer Staples which was hit hard shedding 4.1 per cent.

Despite the bearish market, some stocks managed to perform well. The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was AVEO Group (ASX:AOG) rising 4.3 per cent to close at $1.70. Shares in St Barbara (ASX:SBM) and Afterpay Touch Group (ASX:APT) followed higher.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Coca Cola Amatil (ASX:CCL),dropping 14.5 per cent to close at $8.64. Shares in Aristocrat Leisure (ASX:ALL) and Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (ASX:API) followed lower.

Asian markets

Higher: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.1 per cent.

Wall Street

Wrapped up the four trading days this week higher: The Dow Jones added 4.2 per cent, The S&P 500 added 3.8 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq gained 4.6 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,225 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 0.2 per cent to US$66.51 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 0.4 per cent.
Light crude is up $0.97 at $US51.26 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.14 US cents.

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin has gained 2.7 per cent to US$4,314, Ethereum has gained 0.2 per cent to US$119 and EOS has fallen about 3.1 per cent to US$3.03 in the last 24 hours.
 

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