Pay Now, Pay Later stocks performed well today: ASX closed 1.1% higher

It has been a positive day of trade for the Australian share market closing on a high for the fourth consecutive session. The local bourse managed to close 1.1 per cent higher. Tech stocks performed well today. Pay now, pay later companies also did well with Sezzle (ASX:SZL) rising after they reported a record third quarter and Zip cp (ASX:Z1P) also did well today.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 66 points higher to finish at 6,102.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 104 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a lift of 11 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a rise of 34points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 74 point rise tomorrow morning.

Local economic news

The seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved fell 1.6 per cent in August. Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 11 per cent, while private sector houses rose 4.8 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms.
Meanwhile, between the week ending 14 March 2020 (the week Australia recorded its 100th confirmed Covid-19 case) and the week ending 19 September 2020, payroll jobs decreased by 4.1 per cent and total wages decreased by 2.9 per cent. Victorian payroll jobs are up 0.4 per cent across the fortnight.

Company news

Real estate investor and manager, Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) in partnership with Korean real estate investment manager, IGIS Asset Management, has announced the settlement of seven DHL logistics assets in Italy for $83.3 million. This will be funded by a new fiveyear loan facility of $48.7 million secured at the property level along with IGIS equity commitments and drawdown of existing Cromwell facilities. Located in northern Italy, the seven properties are fully let to DHL on long-term leases with an overall portfolio WALT of 16 years. Shares in Cromwell Property Group (ASX:CMW) closed 0.6 per cent lower at $0.88.

CSL (ASX:CSL) subsidiary, Seqirus, has signed a final agreement with the Commonwealth of Australia for the supply of 51 million doses of the University of Queensland-CSL Covid-19 vaccine candidate, should clinical trials be successful.

Installment payment platform Sezzle Inc. (ASX:SZL) reports record third quarter 2020 results with underlying merchant sales increasing 231.5 per cent year on year to $318 million.

Transurban (ASX:TCL) shows average daily traffic for the September quarter decreased by 25.2 per cent. While volumes were down at a Group level, traffic continued to improve from lows experienced during April in Brisbane, Sydney, the Greater Washington Area and Montreal.

IPO

Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) started trading today. The mining and exploration company issued at $0.20, started trading at $0.20 and closed at $0.20.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Information Technology adding 2.7 per cent while the worst performing sector was REITs, closeing 0.4 per cent lower

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is ZIP Co (ASX:Z1P) rising 8.8 per cent to $7.93, followed by shares in Netwealth Group (ASX:NWL) and Avita Therapeutics (ASX:AVH).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC), dropping 3.7 per cent to close at $1.03. Shares in Reliance Worldwide Corp (ASX:RWC) and Growthpoint Properties Australia (ASX:GOZ) followed lower.

Asian markets

Mixed: Japan’s Nikkei has added 1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is still closed.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,889 an ounce.
Light crude is US$0.08 higher at US$40.31 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.50US cents.