Official cash rate steady at 0.25%: ASX closed 0.03% lower

After a massive leap upwards at the open, the Australian share market took a small dip around lunchtime and the local bourse managed to close 0.03% lower. The materials sector is doing well today with shares in St Barbara (ASX:SBM) and Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) all seeing a rise. Shares in Ooh!Media (ASX:OML) meanwhile took a dip.

The S&P/ASX200 index

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 2 points lower to finish at 6,013.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a drop of 199 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a dip of 18 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a fall of 26 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing an 8 point fall tomorrow morning.

Local economic news

The Reserve Bank of Australia has held the official cash rate steady at 0.25 per cent. The result was widely expected by the market.

Company news

Sequoia Financial Group (ASX:SEQ) has entered into a Purchase of Assets Agreement with Total Cover Australia (TCA), via the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary InterPrac Securities.TCA is a renowned multiple award winning Corporate Authorised Representative of the Sequoia group through InterPrac Financial Planning. The business has averaged $800K of annual income for the past three years (30 per cent new business, 70 per cent recurring income) and will be absorbed into the 100 per cent owned ‘direct’ client base of InterPrac Securities, starting July 2020. Sequoia will issue 1.5 million shares immediately and make cash payments of $900K over the next two years to complete the purchase. Shares in Sequoia Financial Group (ASX:SEQ) closed flat at $0.25.

Iberdrola's take-over offer for renewables company Infigen (ASX:IFN) has been given approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. The wind farm owner was subject to a rival bid from Philippine investment company UAC Energy.
Dexus (ASX:DXS) today announced that the Dexus Australian Logistics Trust, in which Dexus holds a 51 per cent interest, has exchanged contracts to acquire two quality industrial properties – one in Greenacre in NSW and the Merrifield Business Park in Victoria.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Materials, adding 1.7 per cent, while the worst performing sector was REITs, shedding 1.7 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was St Barbara (ASX:SBM), rising 10.3 per cent to close at $3.63. Shares in Gold Road Resources (ASX:GOR) and TPG Telecom (ASX:TPG) followed.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Ooh!Media (ASX:OML), closing 6 per cent lower at $0.94. It was followed by shares in Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX:CQR) and Vicinity Centres (ASX:VCX).

Asian markets

Mixed. Japan’s Nikkei has lost 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 1.3 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,784 an ounce.
Iron ore price added 0.6 per cent to US$101.24.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2.5 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.53 down at US$40.20 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 69.54 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network