Filled jobs fall 0.1 per cent: Aus shares close 0.1% higher
The Australian share market fell at the open, although was up at noon and continued to rally closing 0.1 per cent up at the end of trade. Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX:SAR), led the top 200 gains for the session, up almost 9 per cent, and G8 Education (ASX:GEM) led the losses for the day.
The S&P/ASX200 index
At the closing bell the S&P/ASX 200 index closed 4 points higher to finish at 6148.
Futures market
Dow futures are suggesting a rise of 183 points.
S&P 500 futures are eyeing a lift of 19 points.
The Nasdaq futures are eyeing a gain of 63 points.
And the ASX200 futures are eyeing a 44 point fall tomorrow morning.
Local Economic News
Filled jobs fell by 0.1 per cent and hours worked by 0.8 per cent between the December and March quarters, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Head of Labour Statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said “The Labour Account shows the extent of the early impacts from COVID-19 on jobs and hours across the first quarter of the year.” Filled jobs decreased for the first time since September quarter 2016 and the number of job vacancies decreased by 0.2 per cent over the quarter, and was down 2.2 per cent on March quarter 2019.
Broker moves
Citi has rated Domino’s (ASX:DMP) as a Sell. The pizza chain did not provide quantitative guidance, although said impacts from the pandemic are easing. As events including sports and entertainment are increasing post COVID-19, sales have started to improve. Domino’s is optimistic over the coming European summer as people will still be spending more time at home. The broker suspects support for franchisees could dent FY20 earnings by around $4-6m. Shares in Domino’s (ASX:DMP) closed 0.8 per cent higher at $64.48.
Looking at some more headlines:
Harvey Norman (ASX:HVN) will pay investors a fully franked special dividend of 6 cents per share. The company previous announced an interim dividend of 12 cents per share in April, but dropped that due to coronavirus.
Retail and services company Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) launches $115 million capital raising
Opthea (ASX:OPT) has reported positive Phase 2a trial results for its OPT-302 treatment in Diabetic Macular Edema.
Best and worst performers of the day
The best performing sector was Information Technology adding 3.1 per cent while the worst performing sector was REITs shedding 2.5 per cent.
The best performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Saracen Mineral Holdings (ASX:SAR), rising 8.5 per cent to close at $4.60. Shares in Afterpay (ASX:APT) and Harvey Norman Holdings (ASX:HVN) followed.
The worst performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was G8 Education (ASX:GEM), dropping 5.8 per cent to close at $1.05 cents. Shares in Cooper Energy (ASX:COE) and Virgin Money UK (ASX:VUK) followed lower.
Asian markets
Mixed: Japan’s Nikkei has gained 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.3 per cent and the Shanghai Composite has lost 0.5 per cent.
Commodities and the dollar
Gold is trading at US$1,719 an ounce.
Iron ore price lost 1 per cent to US$104.60.
Iron ore futures are pointing to a fall of 1.3 per cent.
Light crude is US$0.69 down at US$38.69 a barrel.
One Australian dollar is buying 69.99 US cents.
Copyright 2020 – Finance News Network
Source: Finance News Network
