Positive offshore leads lifted the Australian share market at open and the benchmark index has climbed 0.7 per cent at noon. Slightly bouncing back from yesterday’s steep losses of more than 1 per cent all the major sectors have moved higher today. The local technology sector has rebounded and is at the top of the ladder after the tech-heavy US Nasdaq index recovered 0.6 per cent overnight.
Miners are also making gains on the back of well-received first quarter production reports from mining giant Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) and copper and gold producer OZ Minerals Limited
(ASX:OZL).
The Australian dollar has moved under $US0.94 after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s latest meeting minutes highlighted how low interest rates are supporting the economy.
Figures
The S&P/ASX 200 index has risen 36 points and is sitting at 5,395. On the futures market the SPI is 41 points higher.
Company news
Shares in 99 Wuxian Limited
(ASX:NNW) have gained ground after revealing a range of new initiatives enabling it to expand its reach through multi-platform partnerships. The Chinese m-commerce company says the initiatives are geared to advance the company's focus on enhancing user engagement. 99 Wuxian also hopes the initiatives will boost both the value and volume of transactions. Shares in 99 Wuxian have gained 5.71 per cent and are trading at $0.37 at noon.
Padbury Mining Limited
(ASX:PDY) is keeping investors in suspense about its mystery investor after extending its trading halt by an extra two days. The iron ore explorer was due to update the market this morning on the details behind a $US6.5 billion financing deal which saw the company stock surge 65 per cent at the end of last week. Shares in Padbury Mining remain in a trading halt, having last traded at $0.03.
Best and worst performers
Across the sectors all the majors have moved higher: The best performing sector is consumer staples gaining 95 points to 9,825. Shares in Graincorp Limited
(ASX:GNC) have risen 1.49 per cent and trading at $8.84. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil Limited
(ASX:CCL) and Woolworths Limited
(ASX:WOW) are also stronger.
The sector was the smallest gains is telco services, adding 6 points to 1,767. Shares in M2 Group Limited
(ASX:MTU) have lost 1.99 per cent, trading at $5.43. Shares in TPG Telecom Limited
(ASX:TPM) are also lower while shares in Telstra Corporation Limited
(ASX:TLS) are trading slightly higher at noon.
IPOs
Beacon Lighting Group Limited
(ASX:BLX) started trading today. The specialist lighting retailer floated with an issue price of $0.66, opened at $1.05 and is currently trading at $1.06 at noon.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,323 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.9397.
