Aussie dollar falls: Aus shares 0.2% lower at noon

The Australian share market was down at the open this morning and is now tracking 0.2 per cent lower at noon. NRW Holdings shares are leading the gains, surging after the company reported a significant rise in revenues, earnings and profits in the first half of FY20 despite last months mining tragedy. At midday, Financials are leading the sectors while Consumer Discretionary is coming in last.

The S&P/ASX 200 index is 14 points down at 7,149. On the futures market the SPI is 18 points lower.

Broker moves

UBS has rated Coca-Cola Amatil (ASX:CCL) as a Sell. The broker says that Coca-Cola’s underlying result beat the broker by 3%, which was driven by improving trends in Australia and Indonesia. Despite the good result, it’s not one UBS sees as being repeated, explaining the second half will be challenging as cost tailwinds start to abate and the company cycles tough comparables from last year. Shares in Coca-Cola Amatil (ASX:CCL) are trading 1.4 per cent lower at $12.89.

Company news

Christine Feldmanis has joined the Bell Financial Group (ASX:BFG) Board. Christine’s appointment as a Non-Executive Director with effect from today comes with extensive industry knowledge. Ms Feldmanis is currently a director of Perpetual Equity Investment Company and has held Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer roles, including as Managing Director of Treasury Group Investment Services. Shares in Bell Financial Group (ASX:BFG) are trading 3.6 per cent higher at $1.45.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Financials, adding 0.2 per cent, while the worst performing sector is Consumer Discretionary shedding 0.99 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH) rising 7.6 per cent to $3.20, followed by shares in WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) and Orocobre (ASX:ORE).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is New Hope Corporation (ASX:NHC), dropping 10.5 per cent to $1.67, followed by shares in EML Payments (ASX:EML) and Mayne Pharma Group (ASX:MYX).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,620 an ounce.
Iron ore price is 2.2 per cent higher at US$92.01.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.3 per cent.
One Australian dollar is buying 66.16US cents.
 
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Source: Finance News Network