The Australian share market gained momentum and lifted in afternoon trade. At the closing bell, the ASX was 0.4 per cent or 29 points higher at 7,503.
Mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto helped the ASX rise above 7500 this morning. BHP
(ASX:BHP) closed 2.2 per cent higher at $54.12 and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) closed 1.6 per cent higher at $134.54. Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) closed 0.7 per cent higher at $24.16.
Energy and Real Estate stocks also pushed forward, while buy now, pay later star Afterpay
(ASX:APT) dropped despite its success with Square, closing 0.8 lower at $126.79.
Oil prices lifted, with Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) closing 1 per cent higher, Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) 0.9 per cent higher and Santos
(ASX:STO) 0.3 per cent higher.
Major Banks edged higher in the afternoon, apart from NAB
(ASX:NAB), which closed 0.2 per cent lower. The Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) closed 0.8 per cent higher, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) closed 0.2 per cent higher and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) closed 0.1 per cent higher.
Real estate investment trust ALE Property
(ASX:LEP) closed 1.5 per cent higher, following its full year results for FY21.
On the down side, GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) was a heavy loss, closing 3.3 per cent lower despite a boost in revenue for FY21. Health Care giant CSL
(ASX:CSL) also closed 0.7 per cent lower.
NSW recorded 233 new Covid-19 cases, Queensland recorded 16 new cases while Victoria records its first day of no new cases in almost a month.
Local economic newsThe Australian Bureau of Statistics released their ‘Retail Trade, Australia’ statement for June 2021. This includes Monthly and quarterly estimates of turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales.
Retail sales volumes rose 0.8 per cent in the June quarter 2021, seasonally adjusted. This follows the 0.5 per cent fall in the March quarter 2021.
Company newsPlease join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Real estate investment trust BWP Trust
(ASX:BWP), posted a total income of $152.2 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), down 2.3 per cent from the prior year.
GUD
(ASX:GUD), a leader in the automotive aftermarket and water products sector, reached total revenue of $557 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), reflecting a 27.2 per cent increase from the prior year.
Christine O’Reilly will join the ANZ Board on 1 Nov 2021 as a non-executive director, subject to meeting regulatory requirements.
ALE Property
(ASX:LEP) has recorded statutory profit of $179.2 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021. This represents a $159.2 mil or 794 per cent increase on FY20.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a fall of 29 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a fall of 2 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 19 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 36 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 1.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Health Care, down 0.5 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Omni Bridgeway
(ASX:OBL), closing 5.6 per cent higher at $3.78. It was followed by shares in Adbri
(ASX:ABC) and Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Chalice Mining
(ASX:CHN), closing 5.6 per cent lower at $7.22. It was followed by shares in GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) and Inghams Group
(ASX:ING).
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has lost 0.3 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.1 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.7 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1813.08 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.1 per cent higher at US$184.67 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.10 lower at US$70.46 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.00 US cents.
