It has been a negative day of trade with the market losing 0.4 per cent and most of the sectors closing the red on the back on growing China US trade war fears. This morning we saw the Dow Jones make its biggest one-day slide since early January.
As for our sectors, Tech stocks and Telcos closed with a loss of 2.3 per cent and Financials virtually closed flat.
Our sister nation, New Zealand cut its official cash rate from 1.75 per cent to a record low of 1.50 per cent at its meeting today, as widely expected.
The S&P/ASX200 indexAt the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 27 points lower to finish at 6,269, about 1.9 per cent away from the 11.5 year high we hit a few weeks ago.
Futures marketDow futures are suggesting a rise of 27 points.
S&P 500 futures are flat.
The Nasdaq futures are flat, ore eyeing a 0.5 point fall.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 42 point fall.
Company news Treasury Wine Estates
(ASX:TWE) advised its CEO sold 400,000 shares in the company worth about $6.1 million. The sales took place on 1 May and 3 May in what the company says is ‘in accordance with the company’s securities trading policy’. The CEO continues to hold 1.8 million shares in the company. Shares in Treasury Wine Estates
(ASX:TWE) closed 6.6 per cent lower at $15.10.
The ACCC opposed TPG
(ASX:TPM) and Vodafone Hutchison Australia’s
(ASX:VHA) merger. The ACCC says its decision was inadvertently published online on its mergers register briefly this afternoon, and it does intend to publish a further media release shortly. TPM
(ASX:TPM) shares closed 13.5 per cent lower at $6.07.
BHP
(ASX:BHP) has responded to today’s media reports in the UK and has confirmed it will defend the Samarco dam failure legal claim. The Samarco dam collapsed in Brazil on 5 November 2015, killing 19 people and today, BHP has advised BHP Group Limited and BHP Group Plc has been served with legal proceedings in the Business and Property Courts of Liverpool, England.
Talent acquisition company LiveHire
(ASX:LVH) has surpassed 1 million talent community connections. The company has seen its growth accelerate with more than 200,000 talent connections being added in the last 4 months.
Small cap, Orthocell
(ASX:OCC) saw its shares hit a new three year high, surging 357 today after announcing it successfully regenerated damaged nerves in its first four patients, as part of its trial, whereby patients regained sensation and muscle function in affected limbs as part of its CelGro clinical trial. The patients have returned to work, sport and activities of daily living after the trial, which was conducted with orthopaedic nerve specialist, Dr Alex O’Beirne from St John of God Subiaco Hospital and Professor Ming Hao Zheng from the University of Western Australia.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was S&P/ASX Financials adding 0.02 per cent while the worst performing sector was S&P/ASX Communication Services, shedding 2.3 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Syrah Resources Limited
(ASX:SYR), rising 5.6 per cent to close at $1.14 Shares in Northern Star Resources
(ASX:NST) and Ausdrill
(ASX:ASL) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Tpg Telecom
(ASX:TPM), dropping 13.5 per cent to close at $6.07. Shares in Afterpay Touch Group
(ASX:APT) and Hub24
(ASX:HUB) followed lower.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei has lost 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.9 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.4 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,288 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 1.9 per cent to US$96.15
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.4 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.81 lower at US$61.44 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 70.25 US cents.
