Wall Street reversed its gains overnight to push into the red in late trading but it was shrugged off by the local market which is up 0.5 per cent at noon.
Energy stocks led the way this morning with Whitehaven coal and Paladin Energy being the morning’s best performers after taking heavy looses over past weeks.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 31 points up at 5,183. On the futures market the SPI is 32 points higher.
Economic news
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute has forecast slowing economic growth as its leading Indexes of Economic Activity point towards a lower estimate of GDP growth of only 2.7 per cent towards the middle of next year.
Company news
Prima BioMed Limited
(ASX:PRR) has completed the acquisition of French biotech company Immutep SA in a deal worth around $US25 million.
The company says Immutep is in the rapidly growing field of immuno-oncology and that Professor Frederic Triebel will join the company as its new Chief Scientific Officer. CEO Marc Voigt says he believes they’ve secured an extremely compelling value proposition with the potential to unlock significant value from Immutep’s assets. Shares in Prima BioMed are trading flat at $0.04.
InvoCare Limited
(ASX:IVC) has appointed Martin Earp as its new CEO to succeed Andrew Smith in May next year.
The company says Mr Earp is currently Global CEO of Campus Living Villages and will be focussed on driving growth and development of InvoCare. Chairman Richard Fisher says the company has a strong operating footprint, solid revenues, strong cash flows and a healthy balance sheet. Shares in InvoCare are trading down 0.68 per cent at $11.75.
Best and worst performers The best performing sector is energy, gaining 3.1 per cent to 10,783. Shares in Whitehaven Coal Limited
(ASX:WHC) have risen 5.26 per cent and trading at $1.20. Shares in Paladin Energy Limited
(ASX:PDN) and Woodside Petroleum Limited
(ASX:WPL) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is consumer discretionary, falling 0.7 per cent to 1,708. Shares in Southern Cross Media Group Limited
(ASX:SXL) have fallen 3.9 per cent, trading at $0.98. Shares in Ten Network Holdings Limited
(ASX:TEN) and Crown Resorts Limited
(ASX:CWN) are also lower.
Gold and the dollar
Gold is trading at $US1,1999 an ounce.
The Australian dollar is buying $US0.8220.
