The Australian share market opened flat, following weak leads from Wall Street amidst heightened trade tensions between China and the US. It is now tracking 0.4 per cent lower at noon with Financials and Energy trailing behind. Most of the sectors however are in the green. Shares in gaming machine maker, Aristocrat Leisure
(ASX:ALL), have soared this morning following the company’s announcement that their profit after tax has jumped up 14.8 per cent for the 6 months to 31 March 2019.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 23 points down at 6,488. On the futures market the SPI is 24 points lower.
Broker movesGoldman Sachs has rated plus size fashion retailer, City Chic Collective
(ASX:CCX), as a neutral with a 12 month price target of $1.95. They forecast a 20 per cent earnings per share compound annual growth rate for the 2019 to 2021 financial year period. This will be driven by the rollout of approximately 110 stores in Australia and New Zealand; the upsizing of existing stores; online range extensions; and continued expansion into the US market. Shares in City Chic Collective
(ASX:CCX) are trading 1 per cent lowerat noon.
Company newsTelecommunication company, Animoca Brands Corporation
(ASX:AB1), has raised approximately $3.6 million via its wholly owned subsidiary TSB Gaming. The raising consists of 40 per cent cash and 60 per cent Bitcoin cryptocurrency. It will fund development of the upcoming blockchain version of their mobile game franchise, ‘The Sandbox’ which is set to launch in the third quarter of 2019. Shares in Animoca Brands Corporation
(ASX:AB1) last traded at 15 cents.
Exploration and mining company, Independence Group
(ASX:IGO), has penned an agreement to divest their nickel Long Operation near Kalgoorlie, to Mincor Resources
(ASX:MCR) for $9.5 million. This will comprise of $3.5 million of Mincor shares on completion and an additional $6 million in contingent payments. Shares in Independence Group
(ASX:IGO) are trading 0.9 per cent lower at $4.79 at noon .
IPOPowerwrap
(ASX:PWL) started trading today. The financial technology platform provider floated with an issue price of 35 cents, opened at 35 cents and is trading at 31 cents.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, adding 1.6 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Financials, shedding 1.3 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Aristocrat Leisure
(ASX:ALL), rising 6.8 per cent to $28.33, followed by shares in CSR
(ASX:CSR) and Adelaide Brighton
(ASX:ABC).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Galaxy Resources
(ASX:GXY), dropping 5.2 per cent to $1.70, followed by shares in Technology One
(ASX:TNE) and Orocobre
(ASX:ORE).
Asian marketsAsian markets are trading lower: Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 1.3 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 1.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,275 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 3.7 per cent to US$106.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.3 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 68.73 US cents.
