ASX soars past 7000 point barrier: Aus shares 0.5% higher at noon

The Australian share market has put on a stellar performance this morning, soaring past the 7000 point barrier. With the US and China signing the phase one trade agreement and the Dow closing above 29,000 for the first time, it was our turn to welcome the news. WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) is leading the gains, CSL (ASX:CSL) cleared a $300 share price and Info Tech is the best performing sector at noon.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 37 points up at 7,031. On the futures market the SPI is 38 points higher.

Local economic news

We will see the Australian home loan figures for November and the ABS will also release the overseas arrivals and departures figures for the month of November.

Broker Moves

Citi has rated Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) as a Buy with a $2 target. The company will divest its high-cost Ravenswood mine for an initial $100m. in what the broker considers as a good outcome.This will allow Resolute Mining to deploy resources to core assets in West Africa and repay debt. The broker also welcomes a simplification of the portfolio. Shares in Resolute Mining (ASX:RSG) are trading 1.1 per cent higher at $1.19.

Company news

Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) has announced Jon Brett will join the CTM Board as a Non-Executive Director from 31 January. Mr Brett, was formerly for over 12 years, an executive director of Investec Wentworth Private Equity Limited, and an executive of Investec Bank. Mr Brett will nominate for election as a director at CTM’s 2020 Annual General Meeting. Shares in Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) are trading 0.32 per cent higher at $21.76.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Info Tech, adding 1.6 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Energy, shedding 0.3 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) rising 4.1 per cent to $25.32, followed by shares in PolyNovo (ASX:PNV) and Altium (ASX:ALU).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Super Retail Group (ASX:SUL), dropping 4 per cent to $9.98, followed by shares in BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) and Avita Medical (ASX:AVH).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,556 an ounce.
Iron Ore is 0.6 per cent lower at $96.44
Iron ore futures are pointing to a lift of 0.4 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 69.15 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network