Cochlear drops 5.7%: Aus shares up 0.2% at noon

Market Reports

by Lauren Evans

The Australian share market soared at the open, before dropping back to just 0.2 per cent higher at noon. The ASX is 18.7 points higher at 7483.3 and SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 30 points.

Major Banks, Health stocks and Consumer Staples helped the ASX rise at Friday’s open, while iron ore miners clawed back from some of its losses.

Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) is trading 0.7 per cent higher, Westpac (ASX:WBC) is up 0.1 per cent, ANZ (ASX:ANZ) is up 0.4 per cent and NAB (ASX:NAB) is flat. 

CSL and Sonic are pushing the Health sector higher. CSL (ASX:CSL) is trading 1.6 per cent higher and Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) is trading 1.2 per cent higher. 

Following a tumble in iron ore prices overnight, mining giant BHP is trading 0.5 per cent lower, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) is up 0.3 per cent, and Fortescue Metals (ASX:FMG) is up 0.7 per cent.

The best-performing sector is Consumer Staples, up 1.8 per cent, with retail giant Woolworths (ASX:WOW) up 1.9 per cent and Coles (ASX:COL) up 1.1 per cent. 

In headlines, hearing specialist Cochlear (ASX:COH) plunged 5.7 per cent despite strong performance in its FY21 results. Furniture store Adairs (ASX:ADH), is trading 4.6 per cent higher following its FY21 results. 

NSW recorded 644 new Covid-19 cases, following a lockdown extension. Victoria recorded 55 new cases and Queensland recorded 1 new case.

Company news

Adairs (ASX: ADH) reported another record year for both sales and profitability, for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21).

Cochlear (ASX:COH) achieved record sales revenue of $1,493 million for the period ending 30 Jun 2021 (FY21), up 10 per cent from the prior year.

Sydney Airport (ASX:SYD) faced a challenging 6 months for the period ending 30 Jun 2021, due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Consumer Staples, up 1.8 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Materials, down 1.1 per cent.

The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Redbubble (ASX:RBL), trading 8.2 per cent higher at $3.94. It is followed by shares in Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) and Inghams Group (ASX:ING).

The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), trading 6.5 per cent lower at $1.83. It is followed by shares in TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) and Cochlear (ASX:COH).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1782.89 an ounce.
Iron ore is 13.5 per cent lower at US$132.66 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.19 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.33 US cents.


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