Eight out of the eleven sectors have finished higher today, with big results from Materials, Utilities and Communication Services, whilst the sectors that were in the red, Energy, Industrials and Health Care, all closed lower by less than a per cent.
BHP
(ASX:BHP) rallied 1.98 per cent higher, Fortescue Metals
(ASX:FMG) closed 2.99 per cent higher and South32
(ASX:S32) closed 6.97 per cent higher.
Warrego Energy has told Beach Energy that it must match Gina Rinehart’s offer within five days. The latest offer from Hancock Energy, which was released today, states that the company proposed to acquire all of the fully paid ordinary shares in Warrego at an offer price of $0.23 per share.
At the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.96 per cent higher at 7354.40.
FuturesThe Dow Jones futures are pointing to a rise of 4 points.
The S&P 500 futures are pointing to a rise of 7.25 points.
The Nasdaq futures are pointing to a rise of 15.25 points.
The SPI futures are pointing to a rise of 47 points when the market next opens.
Best and worst performersThe best-performing sector was Materials, up 2.7 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Energy, down 0.8 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Appen
(ASX:APX), closing 10.9 per cent higher at $2.96. It was followed by shares in Ramelius Resources
(ASX:RMS) and Block
(ASX:SQ2).
The worst-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was City Chic Collective
(ASX:CCX), closing 8.2 per cent lower at $0.73. It was followed by shares in Home Consortium
(ASX:HMC) and Nextdc
(ASX:NXT).
Asian newsAsian equities are advancing on Thursday. Hang Seng leading Chinese markets with tech outperforming. Other benchmarks making new highs with Japan, and Taiwan seeing gains of 1 per cent so far.
So far, Japan's Nikkei has gained 1.1 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng has gained 1.4 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite has gained 0.7 per cent.
Company newsGreenstone Resources
(ASX:GSR) has announced a shallow high-grade bonanza at its flagship Burbanks Gold Project in Western Australia. The recent JORC Exploration Target shows between 215,000 and 330,000 ounces of contained gold. In response, Managing Director and CEO Chris Hansen commented, “these most recent intercepts serve to highlight the potential to significantly increase the resource base at Burbanks over the coming months.” Shares closed 24 per cent higher at $0.031.
Chase Mining
(ASX:CML) has announced spherical purified graphite battery anode potential at their Mcintosh project in Western Australia. Preliminary battery anode test work was conducted on 100kg of the McIntosh graphite flake concentrate with test results passing on all early parameters for the battery industry. Shares closed 12.5 per cent higher at $0.018.
XTEK
(ASX:XTE) has received a purchase order from the Commonwealth of Australia’s Department of Defence, totalling A$26.9m, for new Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS). Scott Basham, XTEK’s Group CEO, said: “XTEK is very pleased to be able to continue to provide Defence with high-end SUAS technology, and this new order for a mixed fleet of advanced AeroVironment drones, will deliver significantly enhanced tactical reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities for Defence.” Shares closed 11.11 per cent higher at $0.7.
Kazia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:KZIA; ASX:KZA), an oncology-focused drug development company, is pleased to announce the publication of positive preclinical data for EVT801, a clinical-stage drug candidate currently in a clinical trial for multiple forms of cancer. “These data demonstrate the substantial potential of EVT801 as a cancer therapeutic,” stated Dr Michael Paillasse, lead author of the publication. “EVT801 has been shown to act exactly as intended: by impacting the vasculature in and around the tumor.” Shares closed flat at $0.087.
Warrego Energy
(ASX:WGO) notes the off-market takeover offer announced today by Hancock Energy to acquire all of the fully paid ordinary shares in Warrego at an offer price of $0.23 per share. The takeover offer is subject to a "Pre-Emptive Rights Condition", which requires the Warrego Board to recommend in its Target's Statement or any supplementary Target's Statement that Warrego shareholders accept the Hancock Takeover Offer in the absence of a superior proposal, and a "No Prescribed Occurrences Condition.” Shares closed 1.96 per cent higher at $0.26.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at US$1793.60 an ounce.
Iron ore is 0.1 per cent lower at US$101.15 a tonne.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 0.5 per cent.
Light crude is trading $0.14 lower at US$80.41 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 68.14 US cents.
