Black Friday sales lift retail turnover 0.9%: ASX tracking 0.6% higher at noon

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

The Australian share market rose at the open and managed to maintain momentum and is now tracking 0.6 per cent higher at noon. Vocus Group (ASX:VOC) shares saw a rise today as did Domain Holdings (ASX:DHG). Mining took a hit today with Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) seeing their shares fall and shares in Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) also took a dip. The best performing sector is healthcare. The worst performing sector is materials – the only sector in the red.

Local Economic News

Retail turnover rose 0.9 per cent in November 2019, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This follows a rise of 0.1 per cent in October 2019. There were rises for clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing at 3.1 per cent. These rises were partially offset by a fall in other retailing (-0.5 per cent).

Broker moves

Citi rates the Decmil Group (ASX:DCG) as a Downgrade to a Neutral from a Buy this is mainly because the analyst believes there could be a drawn out process for issues with two of the company’s largest contracts. Target price is $0.63 Current Price is $0.51 Difference: $0.12. Shares in Decmil Group (ASX:DCG) are 0.5 per cent lower at $0.51.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 41 points up at 6,915. On the futures market the SPI is 41 points higher.

Company news

SeaLink Travel Group (ASX:SLK) reports significant damage has been sustained to the SeaLink owned Vivonne Bay Lodge at Vivonne Bay on Kangaroo Island as a result of recent bush fire activity. The full extent of the damage is not yet known. All guests and personnel were evacuated from the Vivonne Bay property on Thursday 9 January 2020. SeaLink currently considers the damage to the Lodge will not have a material adverse impact on SeaLink Group earnings. Shares in SeaLink Travel Group (ASX:SLK) are trading flat at $4.72.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Healthcare, adding 1.6 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Materials at 0.4 per cent lower.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Vocus Group (ASX:VOC), rising 4.7 per cent to $3.10, followed by shares in Domain Holdings (ASX:DHG) and Orocobre
(ASX:ORE).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN) falling 7.6 per cent to $3.52, followed by shares in Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) and Perenti Global (ASX:CCL).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,550 an ounce.
Iron ore price is 1.9 per cent lower at US$94.37.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 68.61US cents.
 

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