Market up 0.3% over week: Aus shares close 0.4% higher Friday

Market Reports

by Katrina Bullock

It has been a positive day of trade for the Australian share market. After a positive open and some rallies this morning the local bourse lost some ground in the afternoon, but still managed to close 0.4 per cent higher. This rebound comes after three days of sell offs and a 0.8 per cent decline in the iron ore price. Most of the sectors closed in positive territory, with Energy, Tech and Materials being the only sectors in the red.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 24 points higher to finish at 5,682.

Over the week, the market has gained 14 points or 0.3 per cent.

Broker moves

Bell Porter have reiterated their hold rating on GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) and have upgraded the agribusinesses 12-month price target from $7.50, up to $9.00. It comes after the company received a $2.4 billion takeover offer from investment manager, Long-Asset Term Partners for $10.42 per share. Shares in GrainCorp (ASX:GNC) closed 0.5 per cent lower at $9.16.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a fall of 29 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a dip of 3 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 2 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a fall of 6 points on Monday morning

Company news

The merger between Fairfax Media (ASX:FXJ) and Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings (ASX:NEC) was implemented today. Nine has acquired 100 per cent of the issued capital in Fairfax from Fairfax shareholders.In accordance with the scheme of arrangement, 0.3627 new Nine shares per Fairfax share have been issued to eligible Fairfax shareholders. Trading of these new Nine shares is expected to commence on a normal settlement basis from next Monday. Cash consideration of $0.025 per Fairfax share has been despatched to Fairfax shareholders. Shares in Fairfax Media (ASX:FXJ) last traded at 66 cents and shares in Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings (ASX:NEC) closed 2.5 per cent higher at $1.68.

IOOF (ASX:IFL) shares have taken a hit today following APRA’s decision to seek Federal Court approval to disqualify three executives and two directors from the industry, including its Chairman, George Venardos and Managing Director,Chris Kelaher. APRA alleges that they failed to act in the best interests of superannuation members and is seeking to apply additional license restrictions on IOOF.

In light of this, ANZ (ASX:ANZ) has issued an update on the sale of its wealth businesses to IOOF. ANZ agreed to sell its OnePath Pensions and Investments business to IOOF in October 2017.ANZ Deputy CEO Alexis George says that given the significance of APRA’s action, they will assess the various options available while seeking urgent information from both IOOF and APRA.

Professional infrastructure and environmental services consultancy, Cardno (ASX:CDD) has agreed to buy TGM, a Victorian based engineering services company.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Health Care adding 1.8 per cent while the worst performing sector was Energy, shedding 0.5 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was the Star Entertainment Group (ASX:SGR), rising 5.3 per cent to close at $4.58. Shares in Speedcast International (ASX:SDA) and Appen (ASX:APX) followed higher.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was IOOF (ASX:IFL), dropping 35.8 per cent to close at $4.60. Shares in Adelaide Brighton (ASX:ABC) and Perpetual (ASX:PPT) followed lower.

Asian markets

Higher: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.1 per cent.

Wall Street

Wrapped up our four trading days this week lower: The Dow Jones lost 2.4 per cent, The S&P 500 lost 2.4 per cent and the tech heavy Nasdaq lost nearly 2 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,240 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 0.8 per cent to US$66.59 and its futures are pointing to a fall of 0.5 per cent.
Light crude is US$1.18 down at US$51.71 barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.30 US cents.
 

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