The Australian share market opened higher defying the futures market which had been anticipating a fall. Now trading at 0.3 per cent higher at noon.Shares in TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM) have started to bounce back after ACCC's decision to block the proposed $15 billion TPG-Vodafone Hutchison Australia merger was announced. Software company Xero
(ASX:XRO) has also seen a rise today. Meanwhile Qantas
(ASX:QAN) shares are down almost 4 per cent after reporting yesterday that their third quarter revenue up was 2.3 per cent to $4.4 billion yesterday. The Energy sector is leading the way and the Financials sector trailing behind
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 16 points up at 6,312. On the futures market the SPI is 11 points higher.
Local economic newsThe RBA released their monetary policy statement today showing growth in the Australian economy has slowed and inflation remains low. Subdued growth in household income and the adjustment in the housing market are affecting consumer spending and residential construction. Despite this, the unemployment rate steady at around 5 per cent. Underlying inflation has been lower than expected, at 1½ per cent over the year to the March quarter.
GDP growth is expected to be around 2¾ per cent over both 2019 and 2020. This is lower than previously forecast.
Company newsREA Group
(ASX:REA) has seen revenue rise 7 per cent to $198.6 million in its third quarter results. EBITDA rose 6 per cent to $110.7 million from $104.3 million in the same corresponding period. REA operates realestate.com.au and is majority-owned by the Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corp. They say Australian real estate classifieds business rose despite a huge drop in listings. Market conditions are not expected to improve in the short term, with listing numbers impacted by the long weekends and the Federal election campaign. Shares in REA Group
(ASX:REA) are trading 0.6 per cent higher at $81.59
IPOLife360
(ASX:360), a services application for consumers to track their contacts. The issue price was $4.79 opened at $5.31, currently trading still at $5.31.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Energy adding 1.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Financials, shedding 0.2 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is TPG Telecom
(ASX:TPM), rising 3.6 per cent to $6.27, followed by shares in Iluka Resources
(ASX:ILU) and New Hope Corporation
(ASX:NHC).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Eclipx Group
(ASX:ECX), dropping 3.5 per cent to $0.97, followed by shares in Nufarm
(ASX:NUF) and Domain Holdings
(ASX:DHG).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei is 0.8 per cent higher, Hong Kong's Hang Sang 1.8 per cent higher, China's Shanghai Comp 2.5 per cent higher.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,284 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 0.2 per cent to US$95.38
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.6 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 70.10 US cents.
