ASX cements 3 day losing streak: Shares finish 0.7% lower

The local sharemarket has ended the session firmly in the red cementing a 3 day losing streak. At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.7 per cent lower or 42 points down at 5823.Major banks, miners and real estate were the main drags on the market today. Meanwhile Harvey Norman was among today’s top performers after a positive trading update for the first three months of the new financial year. News Corp outperformed the media sector rising 4.3 per cent to $21.23 ahead of the company's keenly anticipated investor day.

Futures

Dow futures are suggesting a fall of 145 points.S&P 500 futures are eyeing a dip of 18 points.The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a fall of 54 points.And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a fall of 66 points tomorrow morning.

Local economic news

Super funds have now paid out $33.3 billion to members as part of the government’s COVID-19 Superannuation Early Release Scheme.
Meanwhile, economists at the Commonwealth Bank have raised their forecasts for economic growth, and now expect a 2 per cent increase in Australia's gross domestic product in the current quarter.

Broker call

Real Estate investment trust Dexus (ASX:DXS) has had its price target slashed by more than 20 per cent by Morgan Stanley due to concerns over how it will fare in a high unemployment, low occupancy environment. The broker downgraded the stock from overweight to underweight and reduced its price target from $10.20 to $8.15, saying while it appeared to be good value, the next year would be challenging.

Company news

Westpac (ASX:WBC) has appointed Deem CEO Chris de Bruin chief executive of its consumer division. Mr de Bruinis currently the chief executive of Deem in Dubai, one of the largest non-bank financial institutions in the Middle East. Shares in Westpac closed 1.4 per cent lower at $16.40.

In a trading update provided to investors on Monday morning, Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) revealed its sales for July 1 through to September 17 were up 30.6 per cent on the prior year. The news saw the retailers shares end the session 2.6 per cent higher.

Entertainment company Village Roadshow’s (ASX:VRL) film distribution deal with Warner Bros. will cease at the end of the year after the US entertainment giant decided against renewing its contract.Shares in Village roadshow are trading 0.5 per cent higher at $2.11.

IAG (ASX:IAG) has appointed Nick Hawkins as its new chief executive officer and managing director, following a comprehensive internal and external search.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is energy gaining 0.8 per cent, while the worst performing sector is financials losing 1.3 per cent. The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Whitehaven Coal (ASX:WHC) rising 10.2 per cent to $0.97, followed by shares in News corporation (ASX:NWS) and Costa Group Holdings (ASX:CGC) The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) dropping 9.2 per cent to $1.39, followed by shares in Unibail Rodamco-Westfield (ASX:URW) and St Barbara (ASX:SBM)

Asian markets

All higher: Japan’s Nikkei is closed for a public holiday, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has SHED 1.6 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.6 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,951 an ounce.
Iron ore price rose 2.1 per cent to US$124.90.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of nearly 3 per cent.
Light crude has shed US$0.37 to US$41.24 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 73.12 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network