The Australian market opened higher starting the week off with a strong start, boosted by solid gains on global equity and commodity markets over the weekend. US-China trade talks progression helped boost markets - the talks are moving from Beijing to Washington this week. European markets are strong across the board led by the French and German gains of almost 2 per cent, while the UK market fell behind as Brexit talks continue to make little progress ahead of the March 29th deadline. GWA Group
(ASX:GWA) saw their shares rise today after they reported their half year net profit rose 7.3 per cent to 26.6 million. Bingo industries ended up on the worst performers list after a downgrade- stay tuned for more on this later. Energy is leading the sectors with Industrials behind.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 23 points up at 6089. On the futures market the SPI is 34 points higher.
Company newsWaste management company Bingo Industries
(ASX:BIN) has been hit by apartment building slowdown and have reduced their full-year profit forecast by up to 20 per cent. It had previously forecast underlying earnings growth of between 15 and 20 per cent. Less building work cut their demolition collections business.Also as part of its expansion program, redevelopment left a number of its recycling facilities in NSW and Victoria offline. Bingo’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Tartak, says that while the revised guidance is disappointing, the outlook for the Company remains positive.Shares in Bingo Industries
(ASX:BIN) are 46 per cent lower at $1.24.
Arena REIT
(ASX:ARF) has acquired a portfolio of three specialist disability accommodation properties in Adelaide for a combined purchase price of $23.95 million. The properties are leased on a long term basis to SACARE, a leading provider of disability care and rehabilitation services in South Australia. The investment will return an initial income yield of 6 per cent on the purchase price. Shares in Arena REIT
(ASX:ARF) gained 0.7 per cent at $2.74
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Energy, adding 1.6 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Industrials, shedding 0.8 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Breville Group
(ASX:BRG), rising 6.7 per cent to $14.94, followed by shares in Automotive Holdings Group
(ASX:AHG) and GWA Group
(ASX:GWA).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Bingo Industries
(ASX:BIN), dropping 46 per cent to $1.24, followed by shares in SmartGroup Corp
(ASX:SIQ) and Bank of Queensland
(ASX:BOQ).
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,323 an ounce.
Iron Ore is trading at $88.16 a tonne, that's down 0.2 per cent
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.5 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.51 US cents.
