The Australian sharemarket is edging higher this morning and fighting to stay in positive territory. At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.1 per cent or 5.1 points higher at 7384.3. The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 21 points.
Across the sectors, 6 out of eleven are in the green. Consumer staples are adding the most points, up almost 1 per cent, followed by health care, up 0.8 per cent, then energy, up 0.6 per cent. Meanwhile, technology is the worst performing, down 0.9 per cent, followed by communication services, down 0.6 per cent, then industrials, down 0.4 per cent.
Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN) is leading the market, up a staggering 16.3 per cent after receiving a third takeover bid from Blackstone. Treasury Wine
(ASX:TWE) is up 4.5 per cent after announcing its purchase of Frank Family Vineyards on Thursday, while Woolworths
(ASX:WOW) is also up 1.3 per cent. Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) is up 3.8 per cent and software giant Altium
(ASX:ALU) is up 5.7 per cent.
Major banks are mixed, with Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) up 0.9 per cent, Westpac
(ASX:WBC) and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) edging higher, and NAB
(ASX:NAB) down 0.1 per cent.
WiseTech
(ASX:WTC) is down 4 per cent following its annual general meeting today which confirmed guidance for FY22, while bio-tech giant Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN) is also down 4 per cent on its annual meeting held today. Lithium miners are also falling with Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) down 3.5 per cent and Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) down 2.8 per cent.
Company newsPlease join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Sydney Airport
(ASX:SYD) continued to face another challenging month in October following ongoing travel restrictions.
Janus Henderson's
(ASX:JHG) current chief executive officer Dick Weil intends to retire as CEO and as a member of the company’s board of directors from March 31 next year.
Gambling and entertainment giant Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN) has received a fresh takeover bid from global investment business, Blackstone.
IPOCadence Opportunities Fund
(ASX:CDO) started trading today. Their shares issued at $2.77, started trading at $2.80 and are currently at $3.00.
Cooper Metals
(ASX:CPM) also started trading today. Their shares issued at $0.20, started trading at $0.205 and are currently at $0.20.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Consumer Staples, up almost 1 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Information Technology, down 0.9 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN), trading 16.3 per cent higher at $11.52. It is followed by shares in Altium
(ASX:ALU) and Treasury Wine Estates
(ASX:TWE).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN), trading 4.6 per cent lower at $5.82. It is followed by shares in ALS
(ASX:ALQ) and WiseTech Global
(ASX:WTC).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1860.00 an ounce.
Iron ore is 3.1 per cent lower at US$87.20 a ton.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.2 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.75 US cents.
