Telcos leads the sectors: Aus shares close 0.3% higher

It has been a positive day of trade for the Australian share market closing 0.3 per cent higher. The Afterpay Touch Group (ASX:APT) shares closed the day on a high on the back of their final audit provided to AUSTRAC. Nufarm (ASX:NUF) shares are down after it flagged a weak first quarter and looks likely their earnings will take a hit.
As for the sectors today Telcos led the day and Consumer Discretionary fell lower.

The S&P/ASX200

At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 22 points higher to finish at 6,731.

Futures market

Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 68 points
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a lift of 7 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a gain of 24 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 17-point rise for tomorrow morning.

Broker moves

Citi has upgraded Grocery distributor Metcash (ASX:MTS) to a Neutral from a Sell, with a 12-month price target of $2.80. Last week Metcash confirmed the loss of one of its largest customers, 7-Eleven. The broker expects Metcash will retain around 10 per cent of the contract in Western Australia and selected categories. Shares in Metcash (ASX:MTS) closed 0.7 per cent higher at $2.85

Company news

Ladies fashion retailer Noni B (ASX:NBL) has decided on a name change to Mosaic Brands (ASX:MOZ). Following overwhelming endorsement from shareholders at its recent Annual General Meeting, ASIC has certified and registered the corporate name change. The ASX has confirmed that, for the purposes of trading the Company’s securities, the change of name and ASX code “MOZ” takes effect from Tuesday, 26 November 2019. Shares in Noni B closed 4.3 per cent higher at $2.68

Headlines

Caltex Australia (ASX:CTX) intends to undertake an initial public offering (IPO) up to a 49 per cent interest in 250 core Convenience Retail freehold sites. It is anticipated that the property trust will receive rental payments from Caltex of approximately $80 million to $100 million in the first year.

As part of its Annual General Meeting today, Healius (ASX:HLS) announced that underlying NPAT for FY 2020 is expected to be between $94 million and $102 million. At the top end of the range, this equates to a 9.4 per cent increase, in line with the seasonally-adjusted run-rate from the second half of 2019.

Jumbo Interactive (ASX:JIN) reports that its recent acquisition of Gatherwell has been approved by the UK Gambling Commission. The contribution to the Group financial results for the seven months to 30 June 2020 is expected to be $8.6 million in ticket sales and $1.6 million in revenue.

Best and worst performers of the day

The best performing sector was Telcos adding 1.1 per cent while the worst performing sector was Consumer Discretionary, shedding 0.2 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Afterpay Touch (ASX:APT), rising 7.1 per cent to close at $32.64. Shares in Caltex (ASX:CTX) and Webjet (ASX:WEB) followed higher.

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Nufarm (ASX:NUF), dropping 17.5 per cent to close at $5.08. Shares in Polynovo (ASX:PNV) and Service Stream (ASX:SSM) followed lower.

Asian markets
Higher: Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 1.7 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has gained 0.4 per cent.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,461 an ounce.
Iron ore price has gained 1.6 per cent to US$88.08.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a rise of 2 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.65 down at US$57.93 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 67.97 US cents.

Ends

Source: Finance News Network