The Australian sharemarket opened lower with Magellan Financial
(ASX:MFG) and energy stocks leading the losses. At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.4 per cent or 27.2 points lower at 7276.8. The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 26 points.
Across the sectors, 6 out of 11 are in the red. Energy is weighing the most, down 3.2 per cent, followed by financials, down 1.2 per cent, then materials, down 0.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the best-performing sector is health care, up almost 2 per cent.
Investment management company Magellan Financial
(ASX:MFG) has tumbled 28.2 per cent after loosing its $18.6 billion contract with British wealth manager St James’s Place. Major banks are also lower, led by ANZ
(ASX:ANZ) down 1.7 per cent.
Energy stocks have tumbled, with Santos
(ASX:STO) down 4.8 per cent, Woodside Petroleum
(ASX:WPL) down 3.4 per cent and Beach Energy
(ASX:BPT) down 4.7 per cent.
Iron ore miners BHP and Rio Tinto are lower, while Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) is up 1.1 per cent. BHP
(ASX:BHP) is down 1.3 per cent and Rio
(ASX:RIO) is down 1.2 per cent following the transition of a new chairman.
In headlines, gold miner St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) is down 7.1 per cent following the acquisition of Bardoc Gold.
Amongst the losses, building contractor Cimic
(ASX:CIM) is down 4.8 per cent despite no official company news released to the market.
Company news Please join us for Stocks of the Hour
here. Westpac
(ASX:WBC) has completed the sale of its wholesale dealer loan book of around $1 billion in receivables.
Mining giant Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) has selected Dominic Barton to succeed Simon Thompson as the company’s new chairman.
St Barbara
(ASX:SBM) and Bardoc Gold
(ASX:BDC) have entered into a binding scheme implementation deed under which St Barbara will acquire all shares in the capital of Bardoc.
Magellan Financial
(ASX:MFG) has lost its $18.6 billion mandate from British wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP).
IPOBirdDog Technology
(ASX:BDT) has listed on the ASX today. Their shares issued at $0.65, started trading at $0.70 and are currently at $0.69.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector is Health Care, up almost 2 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Energy, down 3.2 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Sonic Healthcare
(ASX:SHL), trading 3.2 per cent higher at $44.52. It is followed by shares in Viva Energy Group
(ASX:VEA) and BlueScope Steel
(ASX:BSL).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Magellan Fin Group
(ASX:MFG), trading 28.2 per cent lower at $21.08. It is followed by shares in Cimic Group
(ASX:CIM) and St Barbara
(ASX:SBM).
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1801.55 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.24 US cents.
Iron ore is 3.1 per cent higher at US$118.25 a ton.
Iron ore futures are flat.
