Following soft leads from Wall Street, the Australian share market rose at the open, but quickly lost steam, putting its toes in the red. With reporting season in full flight we are seeing mixed results from a lot of ASX200 companies, on top of that 8 company’s declared dividends today, which is impacting our local bourse.
As for the sectors, half are in the red, with Healthcare falling the most after CSL
(ASX:CSL) shares lost over 3.5 per cent after it reported stronger results for FY17 results, but FY18 profit guidance of $1.40 billion to $1.55 billion, clearly not what the market wanted to hear.
The biggest shine this session is coming from the Energy space, which is charging up around 2.5 per cent after the oil price edged higher overnight.
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 18 points down or 0.31 per cent down at noon at 5,740.
On the futures market the SPI is 3 points higher.
Asian markets Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.03 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.37 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.51 per cent.
Local economic news The ABS reported subdued wage growth for the June quarter with the Wage Price Index (WPI) rising just 0.5 per cent seasonally adjusted, taking the yearly figure to 1.9 per cent.
Company newsFairfax Media
(ASX:FXJ) has reported its net profit attributable to shareholders rose almost 8 per cent to about $143 million in the 2017 financial year. Meantime its total group revenue took a hit, falling over 5 per cent to $1.7 billion in the 12 months to 30 June 2017. As for its EBIT, that firmed 8 per cent higher to about $230 million. Shares in Fairfax Media
(ASX:FXJ) are trading 0.74 per cent lower at $1.00
Vicinity Centres
(ASX:VCX) reported its net profit after tax bolstered to $1.6 billion in the 2017 financial year. Meantime its total revenue and income softened to $1.31 billion in the 12 months to 30 June 2017, down from the 2016 financial year’s $1.34 billion. As for its basic earnings per security, well that almost doubled in 2017, compared to 2016. Shares in Vicinity Centres
(ASX:VCX) are trading 2.37 per cent lower at $2.68.
Best and worst performersThe best performing sector is Energy, gaining 2.4 per cent to 8,901. Shares in Origin Energy Limited
(ASX:ORG) have risen 4.53 per cent and trading at $7.16. Shares in Woodside Petroleum Limited
(ASX:WPL) and Beach Energy Limited
(ASX:BPT) are also stronger.
The worst performing sector is Healthcare, falling 2 per cent to 22,044. Shares in CSL Limited
(ASX:CSL) have fallen 3.53 per cent, trading at $122.69. Shares in Mayne Pharma Group Limited
(ASX:MYX) and Japara Healthcare Limited
(ASX:JHC) are also lower.
Commodities and the dollarGold is trading at $US1,274 an ounce and one Australian dollar is buying 78.37 US cents.
