The Australian share market opened slightly higher this morning following positive leads from US markets and the news that growth in the US economy over the January-March quarter exceeded expectations. However the ASX200 has lost ground over the first two hours of trade and is trading 0.4 per cent lower at noon. The REITs sector has been the heaviest drag on the market this morning with real estate majors Goodman Group
(ASX:GMG), Scentre Group
(ASX:SCG) and Dexus
(ASX:DXS) all suffering losses.
Broker upgrades/downgrades Goldman Sachs has downgraded Dexus
(ASX:DXS) from a neutral to a sell with a 12 month price target of $10.70. Goldman Sachs says that aside from its real estate portfolio, value drivers are limited. They expect a ramp-up in supply to drive a decline in Sydney CBD net effective rents over the 2020 calendar year, and see cash earnings growth slowing for Dexus beyond the 2019 finance year as its expiry profile lifts. Shares in Dexus
(ASX:DXS) are trading 1.6 per cent lower at $12.84 at noon.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 26 points lower at 6,360. On the futures market the SPI is 26 points lower.
Company newsFrontier Digital Ventures
(ASX:FDV) has released its results for the March quarter and it saw a record quarterly revenue of $16 million. That's up 75 per cent on the prior corresponding period. Frontier Digital Venture's chief executive officer, Shaun Di Gregorio, says 'the 2019 year has started strongly, with record quarterly revenue and strong progress towards positive EBITDA at a portfolio level'. This result comes as its online classifieds business, Zameen, recorded its first ever quarterly profit during the period. Shares in Frontier Digital Ventures
(ASX:FDV) are trading flat at 53 cents.
Seafarms Group
(ASX:SFG) has extended the close of its share purchase plan to 5pm on Wednesday 15 May 2019. As of today, the share purchase plan has raised $2,141,000. . Under the plan, eligible shareholders can subscribe for up to $15,000 new fully paid shares in the company at a price of 9 cents per share. Shares in Seafarms Group
(ASX:SFG) are trading 2.2 per cent lower at 9 cents at noon.
IPOsMCP Income Opportunities Trust
(ASX:MOT) started trading today. The investment trust floated with an issue price of $2, opened at $2.04 and its trading at $2.05.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is the Tech sector adding 0.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Real Estate shedding 1.2 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is G8 Education
(ASX:GEM) rising 4.7 per cent to $3.11, followed by shares in Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) and Hub24
(ASX:HUB).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Syrah Resources
(ASX:SYR),dropping 5 per cent to $1.14, followed by shares in Viva Energy
(ASX:VEA) and Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS).
Asian marketsHong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,286 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 0.1 per cent to US$93.58.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.5 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 70.53 US cents.
