The Australian share market opened lower this morning and continued to fall defying positive leads from Wall Street as they hit record highs on Friday. The S&P 500 closed above the 3,000 point level for the first time. The ASX is now tracking 0.7 per cent lower at noon. Shares in AMP
(ASX:AMP) have plummetted as they announced that the $3.3 billion sale of its wealth protection business AMP Life to Resolution Life is unlikely to go ahead. This is due to conditions set by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Bellamy's
(ASX:BAL) and St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) meanwhile saw rises. The Materials sector is leading the way and the Communications Services sector trailing behind.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 47 points down at 6,649. On the futures market the SPI is 49 points lower.
Company newsCodan Communications
(ASX:CDA) has won a contract with an East African government department to supply tactical communications network. The contact is valued at $15 million compromising a full communications platform, incorporating Codan radios and third party products. It will be delivered in the first half of financial year 2020.
Codan communications designs and manufacturers premium communications solutions for government, military, defence and humanitarian customers. Shares in Codan Communications
(ASX:CDA) are trading 0.3 per cent higher at $3.59.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Materials, adding 0.1 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Communication Services, shedding 1.7 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Bellamy's
(ASX:BAL), rising 3.6 per cent to $9.11, followed by shares in St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) and Regis Resources
(ASX:RRL).
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is AMP
(ASX:AMP), dropping 15.4 per cent to $1.82, followed by shares in IOOF Holdings
(ASX:IFL) and Xero
(ASX:XRO).
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei is closed today Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 1.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 1.2 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,412 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 0.1 per cent to US$119.29
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.7 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 70.13 US cents.
