The Australian sharemarket was edging higher in the afternoon session, fighting to finish in positive territory after a volatile week. At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.2 per cent or 17.30 points higher at 7396.5. Over the week, it closed 0.6 per cent or 47 points lower.
Across the sectors, 5 out of eleven closed in the green. Health care finished as the best performer, up 0.9 per cent, followed by consumer staples, up 0.8 per cent, then materials and energy, both up 0.6 per cent.
Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN) led the market today, closing a staggering 16.6 per cent higher after receiving a third takeover bid from Blackstone. Skycity Entertainment
(ASX:SKC) also rose 2 per cent, but Star Entertainment
(ASX:SGR) lost 1.3 per cent.
Treasury Wine
(ASX:TWE) closed 4.2 per cent higher after announcing its purchase of Frank Family Vineyards yesterday. Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL) closed 3.2 per cent higher and software giant Altium
(ASX:ALU) closed 5.4 per cent higher, as both companies provided updates yesterday. Whitehaven Coal
(ASX:WHC) added to the gains, closing 3.8 per cent higher.
Major banks finished mixed, with Commonwealth
(ASX:CBA) up 0.6 per cent and Westpac
(ASX:WBC) up 0.1 per cent, while NAB
(ASX:NAB) and ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) fell 0.7 and 0.8 per cent.
Bio-tech giant Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN) was the biggest laggard, closing 4.9 per cent lower, followed by WiseTech
(ASX:WTC) closing 2.7 per cent lower, as both companies held their annual general meeting today. Testing and inspection company ALS
(ASX:ALQ) also closed 3.8 per cent lower.
Lithium miners fell, with Pilbara Minerals
(ASX:PLS) down 3.5 per cent and Orocobre
(ASX:ORE) down 3.9 per cent. Mining giants BHP
(ASX:BHP) and Fortescue
(ASX:FMG) lifted 0.8 and 0.7 per cent higher, despite lower iron-ore prices.
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.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 121.00 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 17.75 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 84.25 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 22 points when the market next opens.
IPOCadence Opportunities Fund
(ASX:CDO) started trading today. Their shares issued at $2.77, started trading at $2.80 and closed at $3.00.
Cooper Metals
(ASX:CPM) also started trading today. Their shares issued at $0.20, started trading at $0.205 and closed flat at $0.22.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Health Care, up 0.9 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Industrials, down 0.6 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Crown Resorts
(ASX:CWN), closing 16.6 per cent higher at $11.54. It was followed by shares in Altium
(ASX:ALU) and Treasury Wine Estates
(ASX:TWE).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Nanosonics
(ASX:NAN), closing 4.9 per cent lower at $5.80. It was followed by shares in ALS
(ASX:ALQ) and Orocobre
(ASX:ORE).
Wall StreetOver the last four trading days, the Dow Jones lost 0.6 per cent, the S&P 500 added 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 0.8 per cent.
Asian marketsJapan's Nikkei has gained 0.5 per cent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng has lost 1.8 per cent.
China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.4 per cent.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1863.47 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 0.2 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.55 higher at US$78.96 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 72.77 US cents.
