The Australian share market faded in afternoon trade, wiping out most of its gains to close 0.2 per cent or 1 point lower at 7,332.
Industrials closed as the best-performing sector, up 0.9 per cent, while Real Estate Investment Trusts closed 0.9 per cent lower.
Major banks closed in the red, except NAB
(ASX:NAB), which closed 0.2 per cent higher. Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) closed 0.7 per cent lower, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) 0.5 per cent lower and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) 0.3 per cent lower.
Aerial imagery tech company Nearmap
(ASX:NEA) closed 14.4 per cent higher as the best-performing stock following the announcement of its unaudited preliminary results for the year ending 30 June 2021. The worst-performing stock was Platinum Asset Management
(ASX:PTM), closing 8.3 per cent lower following its latest funds under management update.
This afternoon, the NSW and Federal governments released a NSW COVID-19 support package available
here. Today NSW recorded 89 cases, Queensland recorded two new cases and Victoria has recorded one case.
To headlines, digital banking and payments provider Novatti
(ASX:NOV) closed 1 per cent higher following its completed acquisition with Reckon Limited.
Cimic Group
(ASX:CIM) closed 0.9 per cent higher following news about Ventia announcing that its telecommunication business Vision Stream Australia has been awarded a new contract with NBN Co. Aerison Group
(ASX:AE1) closed 12.2 per cent higher, while NRW Holdings
(ASX:NWH) closed 5.8 per cent higher following on from its strong performance yesterday.
Berkeley Energia
(ASX:BKY) continued to weigh down the energy sector, closing 41.3 per cent lower after noting that the board of the Spanish Nuclear Safety Council has issued an unfavourable report regarding construction of a uranium concentrate plant.
Global leader in financing and managing legal risks Omni Bridgeway
(ASX:OBL) closed 2 per cent higher following its completed US litigation investment.
Select Harvests
(ASX:SHV) closed 15.7 per cent higher following the announcement that a harvest has been completed and 100 per cent of the 2021 crop has been delivered to the Carina West processing facility.
Local economic news NAB business sentiment weakened in June due to rising number of infections in New South Wales and subsequent lockdowns. The business confidence index dropped to 11 from 20 in May. The decline in confidence was led by declines in NSW and Queensland. Confidence weakened in all industries except mining and manufacturing.
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 2.2pts to 110.0 this week after the Federal Government announced an increase in support to those impacted by the lockdown in Sydney. Consumer Confidence is now sitting just below the 2021 weekly average of 111.2, however remains 18.4 points higher than the same week a year ago, July 11/12, 2020
Company news Join us for
Stocks of the Hour.
Nearmap
(ASX:NEA) has announced its unaudited preliminary results for the year ending 30 June 2021. Record incremental annual contract value (ACV) growth from the North American portfolio for consecutive half year periods is expected to see the group's ACV portfolio end FY21 at $133.8 million, representing 26 per cent growth.
Omni Bridgeway
(ASX:OBL) a global leader in financing and managing legal risks, has announced the completion of a Fund 4 patent litigation investment in the United States by way of settlement. A payment of US $8.5 million is expected to occur in August 2021.
Digital banking and payments provider Novatti
(ASX:NOV) has completed the acquisition of a 19.9 per cent interest in the software company Reckon Limited. Reckon is an Australian software company that provides desktop and cloud-based accounting software for accountants, bookkeepers, small to medium businesses and personal users.
Berkeley Energia
(ASX:BKY) an energy company focused on its wholly owned Salamanca project in western Spain, has announced that the Board of the Nuclear Safety Council (the NSC) has issued an unfavourable report regarding constructing of a uranium concentrate plant as a radioactive facility.
Cimics
(ASX:CIM) associate Ventia has announced that its telecommunications business, Vision Stream Australia, has been awarded a significant new contract with NBN Co.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 31 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 5 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 1 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a flat start when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Industrials, up 0.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Real Estate Investment Trusts, down 0.9 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Nearmap
(ASX:NEA), closing 14.4 per cent higher at $2.27. It was followed by shares in Incitec Pivot
(ASX:IPL) and NRW Holdings
(ASX:NWH).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Platinum Asset Management
(ASX:PTM), closing 8.3 per cent lower at $4.22. It was followed by shares in Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) and Charter Hall Group
(ASX:CHC).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has gained 0.5 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.7 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.3 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1809 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.4 per cent higher at US$217.85 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 3.1 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.28 higher at US$73.72 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.90 US cents.
