Mayne Pharma shares soar on US pill deal: ASX closes 1.5% lower
It has been a disappointing day of trade for the Australian share market. After opening in the red the local bourse continued to lose momentum to close 1.5 per cent lower. It was good news for Mayne Pharma (ASX:MYX) though as their shares shot up today after entering into an exclusive license and supply agreement with Mithra Pharmaceuticals to commercialise a combined oral contraceptive, in the United States. As for the sectors they were all in the red today with REITs with the fewest losses and Infotech the most.
The S&P/ASX200 index
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 103 points lower to finish at 6,640.
Futures market
Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 51 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a rise of 6 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a lift of 13 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 106 point fall tomorrow morning.
Company news
Blue Sky Alternatives Access Fund (ASX:BAF) has settled a deal to sell all its interests in the Atira student accommodation portfolio. The group invested $24.5 million across eight funds in the Atira portfolio since December 2014, and it expected an aggregate return on invested capital of 1.47. Shares in Blue Sky Alternatives Access Fund (ASX:BAF) closed 2.6 per cent higher at $0.80.
Sundance Energy Australia (ASX:SEA) today announced that it had successfully closed on the sale of its assets in Dimmit County in Texas. The company received US$17.8 million at closing. Shares in Sundance Energy Australia (ASX:SEA) closed 2.7 per cent lower at $0.18.
The National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) today announced additional charges of $1.18 billion after tax relating to increased provisions for customer-related remediation and a change to the application of the software capitalisation policy.
Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX) says Peter Newton is planning to retire from his Non-Executive Chairman role. Peter Cook, currently Managing Director of Westgold will assume the role of Executive Chairman until June 2020 when he intends to transition to a Non-Executive Chairman’s role.
And
Talga Resources (ASX:TLG) UK subsidiary, Talga Technologies has gained funding under the UK Government’s ISCF Faraday Battery Challenge initiative to develop Talga’s graphitic anode for solid state batteries. Faraday represents a £246 million UK Government funding initiative for battery research and development.
Best and worst performers
The sector with the fewest losses was Real Estate Investment Trust losing 0.4 per cent while the worst performing sector was Information Technology, shedding 2.4 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Mayne Pharma Group (ASX:MYX), rising 18.9 per cent to close at $0.63. Shares in Clinuvel Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CUV) and Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) followed higher.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was HUB24 (ASX:HUB), dropping 7.1 per cent to close at $11.27. Shares in Galaxy Resources (ASX:GXY) and Bega Cheese (ASX:BGA) followed lower.
Asian markets
Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite is still closed.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,476 an ounce.
Light crude is US$0.36 up at US$53.98 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.09 US cents.
Copyright 2019 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
