ASX up 2 per cent at open: ASX tracking 2.9 per cent higher at noon

The Australian share market opened higher this morning jumping more than 2 per cent within the first half hour of trade and is now tracking 2.9 per cent higher at noon.
Credit Corp (ASX:CCP) was up over 45 per cent leading the top 200 and gold companies were also rallying by midday.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 133 points up at 4679. On the futures market the SPI is 196 points higher.

Broker moves

Morgans has rated JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) as an Add. The consumer electronics company has withdrawn guidance but the update revealed very strong trading in the third quarter as consumers spent in anticipation of the potential impact of virus-related shutdowns. Morgans had expected the business would be a beneficiary of increased demand for technology and white goods but says the withdrawal of guidance is prudent, given the significant uncertainty as to whether retailers and shopping centres can remain open in the short term if shut-downs escalate. Add rating maintained. Target is reduced to $33.15 from $36.44. Shares in JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) are 3.6 per cent lower at $23.73.

Company news

PPK Group (ASX:PPK) says that despite the recent COVID-19 outbreak both their BNNT production facilities based at Deakin University and mining services facilities are open and fully functional. The company has taken measures to ensure the health and safety of employees and customers, temporarily restricted non-essential visitor movements but remains on-track and batch-producing BNNT daily and shipping to customers to meet initial orders for research purposes. PPK reiterates the BNNT Joint Venture remains focused on the ultimate outcome for the Nano-technology which is the “the automated production” of high quality > 95% pure BNNT. Shares in PPK Group (ASX:PPK) are trading 17.7 per cent higher at $2.13 at noon.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Information Technology, adding 6.3 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Consumer Staples, shedding 1.86 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Credit Corp (ASX:CCP), rising 45.3 per cent to $9.08, followed by shares in Challenger (ASX:CGF) and Corporate Travel (ASX:CTD). The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Graincorp (ASX:GNC), dropping 52 per cent to $3.34, followed by shares in Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) and IOOF
(ASX:IFL).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,578 an ounce.
Iron ore price fell 7.9 per cent to US$81.07
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 0.2 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 59.24 US cents.
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Source: Finance News Network