Late rally lifts ASX to 0.3% gain : Buy now pay later companies boost market

The Australian sharemarket finished higher after a late afternoon rally. The market gained momentum after CSL pared intraday falls while Afterpay extended its rise to 4 per cent on European expansion plans and Fortescue Metals also extended its rise from 2 to 3 per cent as investors reacted favourably to the dividend beat in its full-year results. The major banks also trimmed some of their earlier losses.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 0.3 per cent higher or 18 points UP to finish at 6,129.

Futures market

US futures are all in the black
Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 112 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a gain of 13 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 51 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 23 point rise tomorrow morning

Company news

Afterpay rival Zip Co (ASX:Z1P) says its US acquisition target, QuadPay, enjoyed searing growth over July. Shares in Zip (ASX:Z1P) closed 13 per cent higher at $7.45

And Afterpay shares jumped 4 per cent today after it announced plans to buy Spanish buy now pay later company Pagantis.

Meantime, a bumper year for Fortescue Metals Group has provided a payday of more than a billion dollars for the company's founder Andrew Forrest. The company’s net profit lifted by 49 per cent to US $4.7 billion. for the 2020 financial year.

Finally, plumbing supplies company Reliance Worldwide (ASX:RWC) is bouncing back after a slow FY20 with US sales up 20 per cent in July. The company lead todays top performers despite posting a 33 per cent profit drop, with the result perhaps not as bad as expected.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing was IT adding 3.2 per cent while the worst performing sector was energy, shedding 1 per cent. The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Reliance Worldwide (ASX:RWC), rising 17.8 per cent to close at $3.38 Shares in Ooh Media (ASX:OML) and Nearmap (ASX:NEA) followed higher.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was NIB (ASX:NHF) , dropping 10.5 per cent to close at $2.47. Shares in G8 Education (ASX:GEM) and Qantas (ASX:QAN) followed lower.

Asian markets

All higher Japan’s Nikkei has is up 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 1.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.3 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,933 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 1.5 per cent to US$127.38.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.4 per cent.
Light crude has gained US$0.03 to US$42.96 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 71.74 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network