JB Hi-Fi & Harvey Norman rise after broker upgrades: Aus shares 0.2% higher at noon
The local sharemarket is trading higher at noon following a flat start to trade. 6 of the 10 sectors in the green with healthcare leading the gains. Going the other way are the major miners which are weighing on the market. Harvey Norman is up over 6 per cent and JB Hi-Fi is up almost 4 per cent on broker upgrades. BHP Group was down 0.2 per cent and Rio Tinto had dropped 0.8 per cent.
Broker moves
UBS has upgraded retailer JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) to Neutral from Sell. The investment bank says JB Hi-Fi estimates are lifted by 3-11 per cent for FY20-22 and despite the 74 per cent rise in the share price over the last 12 months UBS envisages few downside catalysts.
S&P/ASX 200
The S&P/ASX 200 index is 0.2 per cent or 12 points higher at 6936. On the futures market the SPI is 7 points higher.
Company news
Buy now, pay later provider Openpay (asx:opy) has inked a deal with Woolworths (ASX:WOW). Under the agreement, Woolworths will roll out Openpay’s new business-to-business portal, Openpay For Business across its payments and digital platform, as part of Woolworths’ business-to-business service. The contract is for an initial term of three years with an option to extend for a further two years. Shares in Openpay (ASX:OPY) are up 5 per cent to $1.26.
Best and worst performers
The best-performing sector is Healthcare, adding 0.9 per cent, while the worst performing sector is energy losing 1.4 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) rising around 6.5 per cent to $4.54, followed by shares in JB Hi-Fi (ASX:JBH) and Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS)
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Service Stream (ASX: SSM), dropping 4 per to $2.65 followed by shares in Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) and NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH).
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is up 0.1 per cent trading at US$1,578 an ounce.
Iron ore down 5.4 per cent to 18.38
Iron ore futures down 4 per cent
One Australian dollar is buying 66.84US cents.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
