The Australian sharemarket has faded into negative territory this morning with all sectors in the red except health care. At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.4 per cent or 31.7 points lower at 7398.7. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 42 points.
Health care is the sector in the black, up 0.9 per cent. Communication services are the biggest drag, down 1 per cent, followed by financials, down 0.9 per cent, then utilities, down 0.7 per cent. The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Reece
(ASX:REH), trading 6.7 per cent higher. The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is PointsBet Holdings
(ASX:PBH), trading 9.4 per cent lower.
Major banks are in the red with NAB
(ASX:NAB) leading the pack, down 1.4 per cent. Insurance groups Suncorp
(ASX:SUN) and Insurance Australia
(ASX:IAG) are down 1.5 and 1.8 per cent. Mining giant Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) is down1.6 per cent as iron ore prices trade lower, while BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Fortescue
(ASX:FMG) are edging slightly higher. Gold miner Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM) is also down 1.6 per cent.
Amongst the losses, Westfield owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(ASX:URW) is down 5.4 per cent, data-based company Megaport
(ASX:MP1) is down 3.4 per cent and Telstra
(ASX:TLS) is down 1.4 per cent. Gambling giants Aristocrat
(ASX:ALL), Tabcorp
(ASX:TAH) and Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN) are also all down around 1.3 per cent.
Health stocks are a bright spot this morning with ResMed
(ASX:RMD) up 5.5 per cent on positive quarterly results and CSL
(ASX:CSL) up 1.4 per cent.
Company news Sleep treatment business ResMed
(ASX:RMD) has posted a 20 per cent jump in revenue to US$904 million for the September quarter. The medical product maker said it excluded the impact from Covid-19 related respirator demand. Keep an eye out for a story released this afternoon.
Local economic newsThe Reserve Bank has released private sector credit for September. Over the month, it rose 0.6 per cent versus an expectations of 0.5 per cent and it's up 5.3 per cent over the year, on an expectation of 5.0 per cent.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released their producer price index for the September quarter, so inflation at the business level. Final demand (excluding exports) rose 1.1 per cent this quarter and rose 2.9 per cent over the past twelve months.
The ABS also released their retails trade figures, so the monthly and quarterly estimates of turnover and volumes for retail businesses, including store and online sales. Figures rose 1.3 per cent month-on-month and rose 1.7 per cent compared with September 2020. It was the first monthly rise since May 2021, as the Delta outbreak took hold in parts of the country.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Health Care, up 0.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Communication Services, down 1 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Reece
(ASX:REH), trading 6.7 per cent higher at $20.10. It is followed by shares in GUD Holdings
(ASX:GUD) and ResMed
(ASX:RMD).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is PointsBet Holdings
(ASX:PBH), trading 9.4 per cent lower at $7.82. It is followed by shares in Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(ASX:URW) and Megaport
(ASX:MP1).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1798.80 an ounce.
Iron ore is 6 per cent lower at US$112.65 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 0.8 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 75.27 US cents.
