Unemployment rate dropped to 6.4% in January: ASX tracking 0.2% higher at noon

The Australian share market open slightly higher this morning and is tracking 0.2 per cent higher or 16 points higher at noon at 6,902. On the futures market, the SPI is suggesting a rise of 18 points.

Local economic news

Australian Bureau of Statistics has released Labour Force data for January. Unemployment rate dropped 0.2 points to 6.4 per cent.

Broker moves

UBS rates Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) as a buy from a neutral. The broker believes they are on track for an EBITDA of $240 million in FY21. The South Korea division, Encarsales.com is expected to contribute around $50 million to this number. UBS considers the main drivers of the domestic business to be digital car buying, instant offer, depth and dealer finance. The broker has raised their 12 month target price to $24.50 from $19.50. Shares in Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) are trading 0.5 per cent higher at $21.85.

Company news

News Corp (ASX:NWS) has agreed to an historic partnership with Google to provide journalism from its news sites in return for large payments by Google. Among the News Corp publications joining Google News Showcase will be The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, and the New York Post; in the UK: The Times and The Sunday Times, and The Sun; and in Australia a range of news platforms, including The Australian, news.com.au, Sky News, and multiple metropolitan and local titles. The three-year agreement includes the development of a subscription platform, sharing of ad revenue via Google's ad technology services, the cultivation of audio journalism and investments in innovative video journalism by YouTube. Shares in News Corp (ASX:NWS) are trading at 0.8 per cent lower at $29.59.

IPO

Internet services and infrastructure company, Nexion (ASX:NNG) started trading today. The company develops cloud, network, security and data centre technology. They offer hybrid-cloud services and end-to-end information technology solutions to customers. Nexion issued shares at 20 cents. Started trading at 20 cents and currently trading at 19 cents.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Health Care adding 2 per cent while the worst performing sector is Energy shedding 1.3 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) rising 13 per cent to $11.46 followed by shares IPH Limited (ASX:IPH) and Iress (ASX:IRE).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), dropping 16.8 per cent to $2.33, followed by shares in Perpetual (ASX:PPT) and Netwealth (ASX:WHC).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,782 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.61 US cents.

Our first investor event for 2021 is Feb 23, 5 companies starting 12:30pm details including registration at https://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au/page/investor-events.