The Australian sharemarket is edging lower this morning as major banks weigh on the market. At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.2 per cent or 12.8 points lower at 7439.4. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 16 points.
Across the sectors, 7 out of 11 are in the red. Financials are the lowest, down 1 per cent, with communication services and consumer staples both down 0.7 per cent. Materials are adding the most, up 0.9 per cent, followed by health care and technology, which are both up 0.8 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Chalice Mining
(ASX:CHN), trading 18.6 per cent higher after releasing its maiden estimate for a nickel, copper and gold deposit at Gonneville at its Julimar Project, Western Australia.
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is industrial company CSR
(ASX:CSR), trading 4.8 per cent lower after going ex-dividend today. Amongst the losses, Perseus Mining
(ASX:PRU) is down 2.7 per cent, property group Ingenia
(ASX:INA) is down 2.2 per cent and online retailer Kogan.com
(ASX:KGN) is down 2.6 per cent. Meanwhile, heavyweight miners are lifting, led by BHP
(ASX:BHP) trading 1.4 per cent higher.
On the banking front, NAB
(ASX:NAB) has dropped 2.5 per cent after doubling its final dividend and beating profit expectations for the 2021 financial year. Meanwhile, ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) is down 1.3 per cent, Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) is down 0.7 per cent and Westpac
(ASX:WBC) is down 0.8 per cent.
In headlines, Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM) is trading 2.1 per cent lower following the announcing to acquire Pretivm for $3.8 billion.
Local economic news NAB business survey results came in early with business conditions up 6 points to 11 index points in October, rising back above the long-run average.
Business conditions and confidence rose in October as lockdowns came to an end in both NSW and Victoria. Each of the trading conditions, profitability and employment subcomponents contributed to the improvement in conditions, which was driven by gains in NSW.
Confidence also rose building on the turnaround seen in September, driven by Victoria as businesses anticipated reopening at the end of the month.
All components of conditions rebounded with trading conditions at its strongest. NSW led the rebound in conditions, while Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia all edged lower.
ANZ and Roy Morgan released its weekly consumer confidence index. Consumer confidence was virtually unchanged at 109.0 on the first weekend of November. Consumer confidence is just above the 2021 weekly average of 108.3 and 5.9 points higher than the same week a year ago, November 7/8, 2020 (103.1).
Consumer Confidence this week was up in Sydney, Perth and Adelaide, but down slightly in Melbourne and Brisbane. This week’s increase was driven by Australians becoming more confident about the performance of the economy over the next year and next five years.
Company news NAB
(ASX:NAB) has more than doubled its final dividend after reporting a strong rebound in profit during the 2021 financial year ending September 30.
Gold miner Newcrest Mining
(ASX:NCM) has entered into an agreement to acquire all shares in Pretium Resources that it does not already own by way of a Canadian plan of arrangement.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Materials, up 0.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Financials, down almost 1 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Chalice Mining
(ASX:CHN), trading 18.6 per cent higher at $8.03. It is followed by shares in PointsBet Holdings
(ASX:PBH) and Lynas Rare Earths
(ASX:LYC).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is CSR
(ASX:CSR), trading 4.8 per cent lower at $6.02. It is followed by shares in Perseus Mining
(ASX:PRU) and Ingenia Group
(ASX:INA).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1824.47 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 74.06 US cents.
Iron ore is 1.2 per cent higher at US$93.85 a ton.
Iron ore futures are flat.
Investor eventThe last event for the year is coming up on Tuesday 16 of November with four companies presenting from financial services, wireless technology to pharmaceutical companies. Make your way to fnn.com.au to
register for your free spot.
