A negative day for the Australian share market, with the local bourse (benchmark ASX200) erasing most of yesterday’s 1.2 per cent gain, and today we finished 0.9 per cent lower, clawing back up from the intraday low earlier. Most of the sectors closed with a loss, Materials (miners) down the most after the iron ore price continues its fall from five-year highs.
While there were pockets of gold, with Saracen Minerals
(ASX:SAR) up 1.7 per cent, and tech stocks seeing a health rally, with WiseTech
(ASX:WTC) seeing its biggest gain in the year, taking the stock back to where it last traded earlier this month.
We are also seeing property stocks like Centuria Capital Group
(ASX:CNI) trade at 10 year highs, while Centuria Metropolitan REIT
(ASX:CMA) is at an at all-time high. Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) shares hit a new five year high.
From the get-go, we had negative leads, on US treasury yields falling, along with most global bonds international markets around the world fall. Wall Street closed in the red with the Dow and Nasdaq down 0.7 per cent the S&P500 down 0.79 per cent.
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 62 points lower to finish at 6,483.
Futures marketDow futures are suggesting a gain of 61 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a lift of 8 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a gain 28 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 0.9 per cent fall.
Company news Australia’s number one online vehicle classifieds business Carsales
(ASX:CAR) announced its reported net profit after tax ('continuing') saw a 27 per cent fall in the 2019 financial year to $131 million, on new vehicle sales being adversely impacted by economic uncertainty, tighter credit availability and falling property values. However, revenue rose 11 per cent to $418 million. Shares in Carsales.com
(ASX:CAR) closed 10.9 per cent higher at $15.57. YTD its shares are up 41 per cent.
Novated leasing, salary packaging and FBT admin and management company, McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS) reported revenue grew 0.8 per cent to $549.7 million, with its new novated lease sales outperforming the market. Profit rose to $63.7 million, while underlying UNPATA (net profit after tax and acquisition amortisation) fell 5 per cent $88.7 million in the financial year ending 30 June 2019. McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS) shares gained 17.8 per cent higher. YTD its shares are 11 per cent higher.
Software logistics giant, WiseTech Global’s
(ASX:WTC) financial year 2019 attributable net profit charged 33 per cent up to $54.1 million from last year's $40.8 million and its revenue charged up 57 per cent. The business operates across 130 countries and has over 8,000 logistics companies using its products. The company’s CEO says the addressable market in technology for global logistics is in the hundreds of billions and the spend digital transformations is hundreds of millions more again. And WTC is ‘moving fast to leverage its lead’. YTD its shares are 82 per cent higher. Today its shares rose 11.1 per cent.
Australasia’s largest general insurance broker network, Steadfast Group
(ASX:SDF) reported underlying NPAT of $89.2 million, up 19 per cent on the prior corresponding period, with revenue rising 21 per cent on the back of seeing an increase in insurance volumes and rise in premiums. YTD its shares are 29 per cent higher.
Best and worst performers of the dayThe best performing sector was Information Technology, adding 0.5 per cent while the worst performing sector was Materials, shedding 2 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was McMillan Shakespeare
(ASX:MMS), rising 17.8 per cent to close at $15.47. Shares in WiseTech Global
(ASX:WTC) and Carsales.com
(ASX:CAR) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was The A2 Milk Company
(ASX:A2M), dropping 13.2 per cent to close at $13.89. Shares in Iluka Resources
(ASX:ILU) and Nearmap
(ASX:NEA) followed lower.
Asian marketsJapan’s Nikkei is recovering from its earlier fall but is now 0.3 per cent lower, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is now slightly up, 0.01 per cent up, and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.1 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar Gold is trading at US$1,504 an ounce.
Iron ore price is trading 0.5 per cent lower at US$87.94.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 4.2 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.02 down at US$56.12 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.83 US cents.
