The Australian share market fell in morning trade. At noon, the ASX is tracking 0.3 per cent or 19.4 points lower at 7472. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 11 points.
Materials, Financials, and Industrials are lower, while Technology is outperforming thanks to a further 12 per cent rise in Afterpay
(ASX:APT) to more than $128 per share. Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P) also rose at the open, trading 6 per cent higher.
Onto banks, Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) is trading 0.9 per cent lower, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) 0.8 per cent lower, NAB
(ASX:NAB) 0.7 per cent lower and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) 0.3 per cent lower.
Travel stocks took a turn with Australia’s largest airline Qantas
(ASX:QAN) down 2.1 per cent following a stand down of 2500 frontline workers due to the current Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney. Transurban Group
(ASX:TCL) is also down 0.5 per cent.
Mining giant BHP
(ASX:BHP) is down 1.6 per cent. Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) is down 1 per cent and Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) is down 1.5 per cent.
In headlines, Credit Corp
(ASX:CPP) is trading 1.1 per cent lower following the release of their full year results for 2021.
The worst-performing stock is PointsBet Holdings
(ASX:PBH), trading 8.9 per cent lower following completion of an entitlement offer to raise $81 million.
NSW recorded 199 new Covid-19 cases, Queensland recorded 16 new cases and Victoria recorded 4 new cases.
Local economic newsANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence increased slightly by 1.1pts to 101.8 this week after lockdowns in Melbourne and Adelaide ended and Australians were advised of vaccination targets to achieve to avoid future lockdowns.
Consumer Confidence is well below the 2021 weekly average of 110.3, however it remains 13.2 points higher than the same week a year ago, August 1/2, 2020 (88.6).
There were mixed fortunes for Consumer Confidence around the country this week with increases in Melbourne, up 2pts (+2 per cent) and Adelaide up 3pts (+2.9 per cent) which ended their lockdowns while there was a decline in Sydney, down 7pts (-7.0 per cent) which had its lockdown extended for another month.
Australian Bureau of Statistics released their building approvals and lending indicators for June.
Lending indicators posted new loan commitments which fell 1.6 per cent for housing, 12.6 per cent for personal fixed term loans and 19.6 per cent for business construction (typically a volatile series).
Building approvals posted a seasonally adjusted estimate for total dwellings approved which fell 6.7 per cent in June. Private sector houses fell 11.8 per cent, while private sector dwellings excluding houses rose 0.8 per cent. The value of non-residential building approved fell 3 per cent.
Company newsFinancial services provider Credit Corp
(ASX:CCP) has posted an 11 per cent increase in net profit over the prior year, to $88.1 million at the end of FY21.
News Corp
(ASX:NWS) set to acquire the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and related assets from S&P Global and IHS Markit for $1.15 billion.
Australia's largest airline Qantas (ASXQAN), reports 2,500 frontline employees stood down for an estimated two months in response to ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Information Technology, up 4.6 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Materials, down 1.2 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Afterpay
(ASX:APT), trading 12.3 per cent higher at $128.89. It is followed by shares in Chalice Mining
(ASX:CHN) and Zip Co
(ASX:Z1P).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is PointsBet Holdings
(ASX:PBH), trading 8.9 per cent lower at $9.98. It is followed by shares in Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) and Sims
(ASX:SGM).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1812.61 an ounce.
Iron ore is 1.6 per cent higher at US$184.42 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2.15 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.65 US cents.
