The Australian share market has continued its four day foray into negative territory, opening lower after US Fed scale back fears sent Wall Street down. Local stocks are flat at noon, weighed by losses in the health sector, while the Aussie dollar has taken a hit on the back of a soft GDP read from the ABS. Mid tier electronics retailer Dick Smith is floating on the ASX today and shares are expected to trade strongly as investors flock to the iconic retailer with a strong national footprint. We’ll have all the details from its first trading today in this evening market wrap.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 2 points down at 5,254. On the futures market the SPI is 7 points higher.
Economic news
The services sector contracted in November but not as sharply as in the prior month. The Australian Industry Group’s performance of services index printed at 48.9 for November, an increase of one point compared with October.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says the economy continued to expand at a below-trend pace in the September quarter, with the annual growth rate at 2.3 per cent, well below its long term growth trend of around 3.25 per cent. The economy grew a seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent in the three months to September, unchanged from the second-quarter. Economists had tipped 0.7 per cent growth for the quarter and 2.6 per cent year-on-year
Company news
Mesoblast limited
(ASX:MSB) shares are stronger in early trade after announcing top line results from Phase 2 trials of its proprietary Mesenchymal Precursor Cells targeting type 2 diabetes. CEO Silviu Itescu says the trial represents an important first step in developing an MPC based therapy for the treatment of the disease and its complications. Shares in Mesoblast are trading up 1.78 per cent at $6.30.
Crown Resorts Limited
(ASX:CWN) planned $400 million Sri Lankan resort and casino complex is facing additional delays and is unlikely to receive approval before year’s end, according to a top government official. Members of Sri Lanka’s opposition party have alleged Crown Chairman James Packer has been receiving concessions not offered to local entrepreneurs, while Buddhist leaders have said the casino could be morally detrimental to Sri Lankan culture. A Crown spokesman says discussions between the casino operator and Sri Lanka’s government continue. Shares in Crown are trading down 0.73 per cent at $16.38.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector is Materials gaining 42 points to 9,801. Shares in Atlas Iron Limited
(ASX:AGO) have risen 4.98 per cent and trading at $1.16. Shares in Mount Gibson Iron Limited
(ASX:MGX) and St. Barbara Limited
(ASX:SBM) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Healthcare, falling 82 points to 14,098. Shares in Sonic Healthcare Limited
(ASX:SHL) have fallen 1.68 per cent, trading at $16.41. Shares in ResMed Inc. (CHESS)
(ASX:RMD) and Acrux Limited
(ASX:ACR) are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,224 an ounce and the Australian dollar plunged to the day’s low of $US0.9055 on the GDP read, it’s currently buying $US0.9077.
