Appen shares hit despite revenue boost: ASX tracking 0.2% lower at noon

After a small rise at the open the Australian share market took a dip and continues to fall tracking 0.2 per cent lower at noon. Shares in Woolworths (ASX:WOW) dragged on the market despite showing an increased its net profit after tax by 7.2 per cent to $1.75 billion for the year. Appen (ASX:APX) shares also took a dip – they reported today showing revenue is up 60 per cent. Ausdrill (ASX:ASL) is up over 10 per cent, Link Administration (ASX:LNK) is also up over 10.2 per cent and Speedcast International (ASX:SDA) is also up. The Energy sector is leading the way and the Information Technology sector trailing behind.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 11 points down at 6,490. On the futures market the SPI is 0.3 per cent lower.

Local economic news

The trend estimate for total new capital expenditure fell by 0.7% in the June quarter 2019 while the seasonally adjusted estimate fell by 0.5%.

The trend estimate for buildings and structures fell by 1.8% while the seasonally adjusted estimate fell by 3.3%.

The trend estimate for equipment, plant and machinery rose by 0.6% while the seasonally adjusted estimate rose by 2.5%.

Company news

BidEnergy (ASX:BID) has signed a three-year agreement with Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) to deploy its world-leading Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform. This is following a successful completion of a pilot earlier this year for Origin Energy's Commercial and Industrial customers. BidEnergy expects rollout of its platform to be complete by December 2019. Once customers under this agreement are using the platform, the revenue generated by BID will contribute a further 12.8% of the Company’s last reported ASR as at 30 June 2019.Shares in Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) are up 0.1 at $7.55

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Energy, adding 0.5 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Information Technology, shedding 0.96 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Ausdrill (ASX:ASL), rising 11.2 per cent to $1.94, followed by shares in Link Administration (ASX:LNK) and Independence Group (ASX:IGO).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Appen (ASX:APX), dropping 9.1 per cent to $24.88, followed by shares in NextDC (ASX:NXT) and Bellamy's (ASX:BAL).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 0.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.3 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,543 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 0.1 per cent to US$82.45
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 0.7 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.28 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network