Unemployment rate dropped to 6.4% in January: ASX tracking 0.2% higher at noon

18Feb

Unemployment rate dropped to 6.4% in January: ASX tracking 0.2% higher at noon

 

The Australian share market open slightly higher this morning and is tracking 0.2 per cent higher or 16 points higher at noon at 6,902. On the futures market, the SPI is suggesting a rise of 18 points.

Local economic news

Australian Bureau of Statistics has released Labour Force data for January. Unemployment rate dropped 0.2 points to 6.4 per cent.

Broker moves

UBS rates Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) as a buy from a neutral. The broker believes they are on track for an EBITDA of $240 million in FY21. The South Korea division, Encarsales.com is expected to contribute around $50 million to this number. UBS considers the main drivers of the domestic business to be digital car buying, instant offer, depth and dealer finance. The broker has raised their 12 month target price to $24.50 from $19.50. Shares in Carsales.com (ASX:CAR) are trading 0.5 per cent higher at $21.85.

Company news

News Corp (ASX:NWS) has agreed to an historic partnership with Google to provide journalism from its news sites in return for large payments by Google. Among the News Corp publications joining Google News Showcase will be The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, and the New York Post; in the UK: The Times and The Sunday Times, and The Sun; and in Australia a range of news platforms, including The Australian, news.com.au, Sky News, and multiple metropolitan and local titles. The three-year agreement includes the development of a subscription platform, sharing of ad revenue via Google's ad technology services, the cultivation of audio journalism and investments in innovative video journalism by YouTube. Shares in News Corp (ASX:NWS) are trading at 0.8 per cent lower at $29.59.

IPO

Internet services and infrastructure company, Nexion (ASX:NNG) started trading today. The company develops cloud, network, security and data centre technology. They offer hybrid-cloud services and end-to-end information technology solutions to customers. Nexion issued shares at 20 cents. Started trading at 20 cents and currently trading at 19 cents.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Health Care adding 2 per cent while the worst performing sector is Energy shedding 1.3 per cent.

The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) rising 13 per cent to $11.46 followed by shares IPH Limited (ASX:IPH) and Iress (ASX:IRE).

The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 is NRW Holdings (ASX:NWH), dropping 16.8 per cent to $2.33, followed by shares in Perpetual (ASX:PPT) and Netwealth (ASX:WHC).

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1,782 an ounce.
One Australian dollar is buying 77.61 US cents.

Our first investor event for 2021 is Feb 23, 5 companies starting 12:30pm details including registration at https://www.finnewsnetwork.com.au/page/investor-events.
 
Copyright 2021 – Finance News Network


Source: Finance News Network

Share this post

Related Posts

26Feb

Tech sector down over 6% on rate fears: Aus shares 2.2% lower at noon

26 Feb 2021 - The Australian share market opened lower following negative leads from Wall Street. It fell in early trade and is tracking 2.2 per cent lower at noon. All of the sectors have fallen this morning, with tech stocks haemorrhaging over 6 per cent. This comes on the back of another surge in the 10-year US Treasury bond yield overnight. Higher rates tend to hit the tech sector especially hard as the group relies heavily on low...

Read More
03Sep

Disappointing retail trade and US future weigh in arvo trade: Aus shares close 0.1% lower

03 Sept 2019 - Market wrap: weaker than expected retail trade weighs, coupled with negative US futures. RBA says low-interest rates required to progress Australia. Surplus of $5.9b vs $1.4b expected. Nickel miner Independence Group (ASX:IGO) trades at 4-year highs on industry supply concerns. Amcor (ASX:AMC) dividend of US$0.12 for Qtr, EPS up for FY20. ASX and Oil Search (ASX:OSH) await PNG LNG decision from Govt.

Read More
17Dec

Wall St falls on tech rout again, Corporate Travel to resume trade & Macquarie’s view: ASX to lift

17 Dec 2021 - Wall St falls on tech rout in the wake of the Fed decision. CDC panel supports Pfizer, Moderna over J&J vaccine. European markets mixed on ECB and BoE outcome. Corporate Travel Management (ASX:CTD) is slated to resume trading this morning.

Read More
12Jan

ARB Corp’s (ASX:ARB) soar on market update: ASX closes 0.3% lower

12 Jan 2021 - The ASX slid today closing 18 points down, or 0.3% lower at 6,679. Shares in the ARB Corporation (ASX:ARB) did well today after they reported they achieved unaudited sales revenue of $284 million for the half year ended 31 December 2020 which represents growth of 21.6 per cent compared with the prior corresponding period.

Read More
11May

Nasdaq jumps as Dow falls, Immutep, Antisense, Pushpay, AGL, Star on watch: ASX poised to open lower

11 May 2022 - Wall St closed mixed lifted by information tech and M&A news in the biotech sector as dip buyers emerge ahead of the next CPI print. Shanghai stocks bucked the trend after the PBoC vowed to support the economy. NAB trades ex-div today.

Read More
08Sep

US markets bounce back as Europe looks to ‘winter from hell’

08 Sep 2022 - Stocks rose on Wednesday - trying to shake off a three-week slide - as rates and oil prices eased, cooling investor concerns about continued high inflation. Behind the strong US equity markets however the economic war over energy continues to play out in Europe.

Read More
04Feb

Global markets rebound: Aus shares to open flat

04 Feb 2020 - Australian shares look set for a flat start despite global markets rebounding overnight. US Stocks rose solidly on Monday, regaining some ground after the previous session’s steep sell-off, but investors remain cautious as coronavirus fears linger. Oceania Healthcare (ASX:OCA) has announced that Hugh FitzSimons has resigned as a Director of the company.

Read More
25Oct

Chinese stocks hammered across the globe

25 Oct 2022 - Behind the US market strength overnight, the real news in the markets this week was the Hong Kong market where shares faced a wave of selling after the conclusion of the Chinese Communist Party’s national congress meeting over the weekend.The Hang Seng Index fell 6.4% on Monday, the biggest one-day decline since the global financial crisis.

Read More
04Dec

IPO frenzy: Aus shares close 0.3% higher

04 Dec 2020 - The ASX200 gained momentum throughout the day to close 0.3% higher, with investors choosing to pick up banks and energy stocks ahead of the weekend. That marks the fifth week of gains for the index. At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 19 points higher to finish at 6,634. Over the week, the market has gained 33 points or 0.5%.

Read More
11Apr

Bank reporting season to provide further market volatility

11 Apr 2023 - The S&P 500 ticked slightly higher Monday as investors looked ahead to key inflation data this week.

Read More