Hello and good afternoon. I’m Rose reporting live from Kalkine Studio. It’s lunchtime
here in Sydney, and time for ‘The Mid-Market Pulse’. In today’s show, we will explore
the biggest winners and losers of the day such as Orocobre, AMP, Pilbara Minerals,
Redbubble, Uniti Group, Crown Resorts, and others. we’ll also focus on stocks such as
AMP, Commonwealth Bank, BHP, CIMIC, Telstra, MotorCycle Holdings, and many more that have
grabbed headlines today. So, let’s get started. Australian shares were trading near day’s high by
this afternoon, boosted by gains in index heavyweights such as AMP, Orocobre, BHP, Commonwealth
Bank, Fortescue Metals, and Pilbara Minerals. Investors digested the Reserve Bank’s decision
to scrap its policy of suppressing short-term bond yields. The strong finish at Wall Street
in overnight trades ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision also bolstered investors’
sentiments.
Investors also kept an eye on key central bank meetings in Britain later this week. By
the afternoon trade, the ASX 200 index was up 102.30 points or 1.40% at 7,426.60. The benchmark index opened
higher today, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, ahead of the highly anticipated
US Fed meeting outcome later tonight. On Wall Street, all the three major US stocks closed higher
on Tuesday as strong corporate earnings lifted the market sentiments. The S&P 500
settled 0.37% higher, while the Dow Jones gained 0.39%. The NASDAQ Composite added 0.34%
in overnight trade. The strong quarterly results eased worries about inflation and supply shortages.
Investors now eagerly wait for the outcome of the Fed’s two-day meet that concludes
today. The bank was expected to throw more light into its tapering plan. Rate hike expectations
have increased after the central banks of Canada and the UK were considering such a
move by next year. Back home, on the sectoral front, all the 11 sectoral indices were
trading in positive terrain, led by real estate and mining companies.
The A-REIT sector was the top performer with a 1.9% gain, followed by 1.8% rise
in materials index. Financial, health care and consumer staples also traded higher
with more than 1% gain. Among others, tech, consumer discretionary, industrial and energy
sectors also witnessed a surge in buying activities.
Now,, let’s focus on the top gainers and losers by mid-session trade. The
top gainer on the ASX pack was minerals exploration company Orocobre (ASX: ORE), which
surged over 8%. Some of the other top performers were financial services group AMP (ASX:AMP),
lithium miner Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS), mining infrastructure services provider Mineral
Resources (ASX:MIN), and real estate business Ingenia Communities Group (ASX:INA).
On the losing side, online retailer Redbubble (ASX:RBL) was the worst performer with a 3.4%
loss. Some of the other top laggards were telecom services provider Uniti Group (ASX:UWL),
software business Tyro Payments (ASX:TYR), casino operator Crown Resorts (ASX:CWN), and
international student placement services provider IDP Education (ASX:IEL). let’s move on to
stocks that created a buzz on the ASX today.
First on the list is wealth management company AMP (ASX: AMP). The company’s shares
jumped nearly 9% after it agreed to divest its stake in Resolution Life Australasia (RLA).
The company will offload its 19.13 per cent equity interest in Resolution Life for a consideration
of AU$524 million to Resolution Life Group. The sale of AMP’s holding will complete
the company’s exit from its former life insurance and mature business, AMP Life, which
it sold to Resolution Life in 2020 for a total consideration of AU$3 billion.
Next is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), which rose nearly 1.5% on plans
to allow its customers to trade a range of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin. This is
the first move by an Australian bank into the polarising asset class. In a major boost
to the crypto market, the country’s largest bank has said it would soon start a pilot
program allowing customers to buy, sell and hold 10 crypto assets through its app. The
bank will in the coming weeks launch the crypto trading features on its app to a group of
customers, and it is seeking to make security a key selling point.
Australian multinational contractor CIMIC Group (ASX:CIM) shares traded flat with positive
bias after its arm secured a contract. CIMIC’s mining services business, Thiess has bagged
a three-year contract renewal worth AU$220 million. The contract allows Thiess to continue
mining services at the coal mine of PT Wahana Baratama Mining at South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
As per the contract, Thiess will offer complete mining services for Wahana, owned by Bayan
Resources, including mine planning, environmental and water management, drill and blast, and
mining and pit hauling services. The contract became effective in November 2021.
Blue chip miner BHP Group’s (ASX:BHP) Shares rose nearly 2% after it issued updates on
the takeover bid to purchase Noront Resources. Last month, the company had recommended an
all-cash offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Noront Resources
by its wholly owned subsidiary, BHP Western Mining Resources International. BHP Lonsdale
is currently holding negotiations with Wyloo Metals regarding its potential support of
BHP’s 75 cents per share offer to buy Noront Resources. BHP Group is delaying the initial
expiry of its cash offer from 11:59 PM on November 9, 2021 to 7:00 PM on November 16,
2021, in order to allow more time for the ongoing discussions to advance. The announcement
revealed that the earliest time the mining Company will be taking up Noront shares under
all-cash offer will be at the new expiry time.
Shares of telecommunication services giant Telstra Corporation (ASX:TLS) traded marginally
higher today. The company said in an exchange filing that it will be renewing its contract
with the Australian Department of Defence to deliver critical network and telecommunications
services. The said contract is for five-years and is worth more than AU$1 billion. The contract
will see Telstra continue to provide the Department with technology and telecommunication solutions.
It is touted to be one the largest ever customer contracts of its kind signed by Telstra Enterprise.
Next is motorcycle dealership operator MotorCycle Holdings (ASX:MTO), which dropped over 1%
by mid-session. The auto dealer informed its shareholder this morning that it would expand
its operations into New Zealand through the proposed acquisition of Forbes and Davies.
The transaction for the acquisition is subjected to satisfactory due diligence, lease documentation,
and supplier approval and is expected to settle in November 2021. Forbes and Davies are the
leading importers and wholesalers of motorcycle tyres, ATV tyres, riding apparel, helmets,
and accessories in New Zealand. Its annual turnover has been estimated to be NZ$6 million
in 2021. And that’s it for the Mid Market Pulse today. Stay tuned for plenty more live
updates throughout the afternoon. I’m Rose Jacobs, signing off.