Social restrictions to be eased this weekend: Aus shares clos 1.9% lower

The local share market recovered from its session low of 3.4 per cent but finished down 1.9 per cent or 113 points at 5848, amid continued weakness in bank stocks. Over the week, the ASX has lost 2.6 % or 151 points. The ASX is 18 per cent off its record highs but still 28 per cent higher from its March lows. It has been a roller coaster session for buy now pay later company Afterpay (ASX:APT) which tumbled to an intra-day low of $47.10 before bouncing back to finish at $51.86. Heavy selling of travel stocks pulled back somewhat as the government laid out plans to ease further restrictions and reopen most state borders. Flight Centre had been down as much as 12 per cent earlier, but closed 5.3 per cent lower, while Webjet minimised losses to 5.5. Today’s falls come on the back of losses of 6 to 7 per cent on Wall Street on Thursday.

Australia's 10-year bond yield has continued to come under pressure and the yield curve has flattened on the back of uncertainty about the strength of the economic recovery and the outlook for rates.

Meantime, the Aussie dollar has continued its retreat buying around 68.53 US cents.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 396 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a lift of 41 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a jump of 121 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 114 point fall for Monday morning.

Company news

Alliance Aviation Services (ASX:AQZ) has completed its $91.9 million institutional placement, with the fresh capital to be used to cater to existing and new clients, and acquire additional aircraft. The new shares were issued at $2.95, a 5 per cent discount to the last closing price of $3.10. Shares in Alliance Aviation closed 1.6%lower at $3.05

Westpac (ASX:WBC) is dealing with further issues beyond those covered in the current case against it by Austrac.In a statement this morning, the big four bank noted it had made additional reports to Austrac following the start of Federal Court action last November by the regulator.

TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM) will pay a special dividend of between 49 cents and 52 cents a share if its merger with Vodafone Hutchison Australia is approved by shareholders.

Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW) will not provide revised market guidance at this time due to the uncertainty of current and ongoing COVID-19 measures.

Digital finance company Zip (ASX:Z1P) has seen May's monthly revenue surge by 78 per cent year on year to $15.6 million.

Best and worst performers of the day

The sector with the fewest losses was Consumer Staples Shedding 0.7 per cent while Energy was the worst shedding 4 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Seven Group Holdings (ASX:SVW), rising 2 per cent to $17.35, followed by shares in TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM) and Ingenia Communities Group (ASX:INA)

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Platimum Asset Management (ASX:PTM), dropping 11.8 per cent to $3.52, followed by shares in Ooh Media (ASX:OML) and Southern Cross Media (ASX:SXL).

Asian markets

Japan’s Nikkei is 0.8 per cent lower
Hong Kong's Hang Seng is nearly 1 per cent lower
and the Shanghai Composite is 0.3 per cent higher.

US Indices over the week:
The Dow Jones has lost 7.9 per cent, the S&P 500 has lost 6.4 per cent, and the Nasdaq has lost 3.4 per cent

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,731 an ounce.
Iron ore price is down 0.2 per cent to US$103.74
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 1.4 per cent
Light crude is US$0.86 down at US$35.95 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 68.53 US cents.

Source: Finance News Network