Solid start to week: Aus shares 0.57% up at noon

Market Reports

by Jessica Amir

Following stellar leads on Wall Street with the S&P 500 breaking a new record and the Dow posting it best week since December last year, the Australian share market shot up at the open and has remained elevated in the first two hours of trade. 

Most of the sectors are supporting the rally today, and with Financials leading the charge, followed by the Consumer Discretionary sector. The likes of IAG (ASX:IAG) are and IOOF Holdings (ASX:IFL) are trading over 2 per cent higher.

On the flip side, the only sector in the red is Telcos, which is being dragged down by Telstra (ASX:TLS) in the wake of its retail shareholder information meetings today across the nation.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 33 points up or 0.57 per cent at 5,728.

On the futures market the SPI is 36 points higher.

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei is not trading as its in the midst of a public holiday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.2 per cent.

Company news

Moody’s Investor Services (Moody’s) has assigned first time ratings to Auswide Bank (ASX:ABA). The ratings agency gave the Australian bank a deposit rating of Baa2 with a stable outlook. Moody’s says the rating reflects the banks improving credit profile, stable earnings and stronger loan growth. Shares in Auswide Bank (ASX:ABA) are trading flat $5.20.

Lithium Consolidated Mineral Exploration (LCME) (ASX:LI3) has commenced a sampling program to investigate lithium brine resource potential in Botswana. The lithium explorer says the sampling program will define areas for initial drilling and deeper sampling. Shares in Lithium Consolidated Mineral Exploration (LCME) are flat at $0.13.

IPOs 

RightCrowd Limited (ASX: RCW) started trading today. The company floated with an issue price of 30 cents, opened at 31 cents and is currently trading at 29.5 cents.

The best and worst performers

The best performing sector is Financials gaining 0.97 per cent to 6,431. Shares in BT Investment Management (ASX:BTT) have risen 3.17 per cent and trading at $10.75 Shares in CYBG PLC (ASX:CYB) and IOOF Holdings (ASX:IFL) are also stronger.

The worst performing sector is Telcos, falling 0.49 per cent to 1,275. Shares in Telstra Corporation (ASX:TLS) have fallen 0.68 per cent, trading at $3.63. Shares in TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM) is trading lower and Speedcast International (ASX:SDA) is higher.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at $US1,319 an ounce and one Australian dollar is buying 80.24 US cents.
 

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