The Australian share market opened higher and maintained momentum in positive territory. At noon, the ASX is 0.5 per cent or 35.8 points higher at 7521.5. The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 41 points.
Miners and energy stocks are making the most gains, with health care not far behind. Meanwhile the tech sector is dragging.
Energy supplier Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) is trading 1.5 per cent higher with Santos
(ASX:STO) up 2.5 per cent and Oil Search
(ASX:OSH) up 1.4 per cent.
Mining giant BHP
(ASX:BHP) is trading 1.1 per cent higher, Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) is up 2.4 per cent and Mineral Resources
(ASX:MIN) is up 2.5 per cent followings it acquisition with Red Hill iron ore joint venture.
Bio-tech firm CSL
(ASX:CSL) is trading 0.6 per cent higher, Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) is up 0.7 per cent and Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals
(ASX:CUV) is up 5.2 per cent.
Major banks are mixed this morning. Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) is up 0.3 per cent, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) is down 0.6 per cent, ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) is down 0.8 per cent and NAB
(ASX:NAB) up 0.4 per cent.
Buy now, pay later giant Afterpay
(ASX:APT) is trading 2.9 per cent lower as the worst performing stock.
NSW recorded 1431 new Covid-19 cases, another record number. Victoria recorded 208 new cases and Queensland recorded 0.
Local economic news The Australian Bureau of Statistics released their retail trade figures for Jul this year. The statement included monthly and quarterly estimates of turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales. The Jul seasonally adjusted estimate fell 2.7 per cent month-on-month and fell 3.1 per cent from the prior year.
Company news Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN) acquired a 40 per cent interest in Red Hill iron ore joint venture (RHIOJV), located in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.
TechnologyOne (ASX: TNE) entered an agreement regarding the acquisition of the UK education service, Scientia Resource Management.
FINEOS
(ASX:FCL) successfully raised $70 million through an institutional placement, an upsize of $10 million following support from security holders.
IPOBallymore Resources
(ASX:BMR) listed on the ASX today at issue price of $0.20. The stock opened at $0.26 and now trading at $0.43.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Energy, up 1.4 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Information Technology, down 0.8 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Orocobre
(ASX:ORE), trading 6.9 per cent higher at $9.78. It is followed by shares in Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals
(ASX:CUV) and Alumina
(ASX:AWC).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Afterpay
(ASX:APT), trading 2.9 per cent lower at $130.59. It is followed by shares in Reliance Worldwide
(ASX:RWC) and Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
(ASX:BEN).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1812.99 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.02 US cents.
Iron ore is 1.0 per cent lower at US$142.02 a ton.
Iron ore futures are flat.
