The Australian sharemarket surged at the open before easing back its gains mid morning. At noon, ASX is 0.1 per cent or 10.2 points higher at 7498.5. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 10 points.
Miners are dominating the market with Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) up 6.1 per cent, following a 117 per cent jump in profit. Meanwhile, Banks, Tech stocks, Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) and CSL
(ASX:CSL) are weighing on the index.
Mining giant BHP
(ASX:BHP) is up 2.6 per cent and Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) is up 2.8 per cent.
Major banks are down with Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) trading 1.5 per cent lower. Westpac
(ASX:WBC) is down 1 per cent, NAB
(ASX:NAB) is down 0.8 per cent and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) is down 1.2 per cent.
Engineering software Altium
(ASX:ALU) is down 12.4 per cent, despite a positive outlook on FY22. Retail giant Wesfarmers
(ASX:WES) continues its losses from Friday, down 3.5 per cent as it weighs on the Consumer Discretionary sector. Health and bio tech company CSL
(ASX:CSL) is down 0.7 per cent.
The Energy sector is pushing ahead despite Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) easing back before lunchtime down 1 per cent. Santos
(ASX:STO) is up 2.6 per cent, and Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) is up 1.6 per cent.
NSW recorded 1290 new Covid-19 cases, its highest daily number of cases ever. Meanwhile, Victoria recorded 73 new cases.
Local economic newsOver the June quarter, company profits and salaries rose. Profits gained 7.1 per cent seasonally adjusted while wages grew 2 per cent according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Company newsFortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) doubled its final dividend to $2.11, after a record year of annual shipments ending 30 Jun 2021.
Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN) reported revenue of $1.537 million amid a challenging year ending 30 Jun 2021, down 31.3 per cent from the prior year.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Materials, up 2.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, down over 1 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is InvoCare
(ASX:IVC), trading 8.32 per cent higher at $12.11. It is followed by shares in Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) and Fortescue Metals Group
(ASX:FMG).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Altium
(ASX:ALU), trading 12.24 per cent lower at $30.55. It is followed by shares in Nuix
(ASX:NXL) and Healius
(ASX:HLS).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1817.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.0 per cent higher at US$157.55 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.80 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.09 US cents.
