Hello and good afternoon. I’m Holly reporting live from Kalkine Studio. It’s lunchtime
here in Sydney, and time for ‘The Mid-Market Pulse’. In today’s
show, we’ll take a look at the overall Australian share market performance by the mid-session trade.
We will also explore the biggest winners and losers of the day such as Champion Iron,
Pilbara Minerals, Fortescue Metals, Endeavour Group, G.U.D Holdings and others. Lastly in our
final segment, we’ll focus on stocks that have grabbed headlines today such as AusNet Services,
Charter Hall Long WALE REIT, Transurban and many more. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
The Australian shares have fallen sharply by afternoon as fall in commodity prices and
weak global cues dampened market sentiment. A slump in iron ore prices dragged the blue
chips mining stocks such as Fortescue Metals, BHP, Rio Tinto, South32 and Mineral Resources.
The persistent worries over corporate tax hike in the United States, concerns about COVID-19 cases,
and possible shifts in the Federal Reserve's timeline for bond tapering kept investors on edge.
The benchmark index, the ASX 200, was trading 1.50 per cent lower by lunch. The index opened sharply
lower today, tracking weak cues from Wall Street which ended lower on Friday amid tax hike fears.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.91 per cent, while the Dow Jones tumbled 0.48 per cent. The NASDAQ Composite
closed 0.91 per cent lower. Investors turned cautioned ahead of the highly anticipated US
Federal Reserve Bank’s meeting this week. The central bank officials will announce
monetary policy statement on Wednesday which will give more clarity as to when the central
bank will start tapering its US$120 billion in monthly bond buying program.
The market experts expect the scaling back of economic stimulus to begin in November or
December. Back home on the ASX 200, on the sectoral front, ten of the 11 indices were
trading in red zone. The material sector was the worst performer with a 3.3 per cent loss, owing to
sharp fall in iron ore prices. The price of iron ore has halved to US$100.80 a tonne on Friday,
from US$230 per tonne in May this year. The price slumped nearly 22 per cent last week as Chinese
government curbed steel production to slow its steel-intensive economy. Material was followed
by energy and tech sectors, which dropped over 2 per cent. Among others, financial, telecom,
consumer staples and A-REIT also witnessed a surge in selling activities. Bucking the trend,
utilities sector was the lone gainer, rising 2.2 per cent in an otherwise weak broader market.
A big news is coming from the aviation space. Shares of aviation stocks such as Qantas Airways,
Regional Express, Air New Zealand, Alliance Aviation Services and Sydney Airport, were
in focus after the injection of a further AU$184 million into the cash-strapped aviation sector.
The airlines are gearing up to resume operations as borders reopen. The new funding includes
AU$119.6 million to extend by five months the International Aviation Support program to March
31, 2022. The extension of this financial aid is a major boost for the ailing aviation industry.
It would help the industry retain key skills and capability for long haul travel in particular,
and also supports the training and maintenance work required to get aircraft back in the sky,
says Qantas Airways. On the COVID-19 front, NSW reported 935 new local coronavirus cases
and four deaths in the past 24 hours. This is the first time in the last one month when
the state’s case load has fell below 1,000. Meanwhile, Victoria reported 567 new cases
and one death on Monday, while Queensland detected one case in hotel quarantine.
In our next segment, let’s focus on the top gainers and losers by mid-session trade.
The top loser on the ASX pack was iron ore explorer Champion Iron,
which tumbled 8.8 per cent by the lunchtime.
Some of the other notable losers were Nickel pig iron producer Nickel Mines, lithium miner Pilbara
Minerals, resource company Lynas Rare Earths and blue chip iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group.
On the gaining side, energy player AusNet Services topped the chart with a 19 per cent gain.
Some of the other top performers were alcoholic drinks retailer
Endeavour Group, waste management firm Cleanaway Waste Management,
consumer discretionary business G.U.D Holdings and Australian bank Tyro Payments.
And now, lets take a small break but stay tuned on kalkine tv as I’ll be back with more trending
market updates.
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Hello and welcome back. Holly this side, you are watching the mid market commentary
in the mid market pulse show. I am LIVE from Sydney at the moment.
Let’s move on to stocks that grabbed headlines today:
First on the list is Australian energy company AusNet Services. The share price of electricity
transmission network operator jumped 20 per cent and hit 52-week high after it received takeover
bid from Brookfield Asset Management worth AU$2.50 a share. The infrastructure affiliate
of Brookfield has proposed a non-binding offer to acquire 100 per cent stake in the company,
valuing AusNet at AU$9.6 billion. They will be reduced to the extent that AusNet pays or
declares a dividend to its shareholders prior to the implementation of the proposed transaction.
Moving on to the next update. Iron ore explorer Pearl Gull Iron is set to list on ASX today
after raising AU$4 million by issuing 20 million shares at 20 cents each in its IPO. Based in
Perth, it is an exploration company targeting a premium iron ore development opportunity on
Cockatoo Island, located in the northwest of Western Australia. The listing came at
a time when the mining stocks remained under stress due to sharp fell in iron ore prices.
Next up. Shares of Charter Hall Long WALE REIT and a Charter Hall Group were trading
lower on plans to acquire stake in ALE Property Group.
The Charter Hall Long WALE REIT and a Charter Hall managed trust on behalf of Host-Plus have agreed
to acquire 50 per cent stake in ALE Property Group, each through a consortium. The deal is
expected to close by mid-December. In addition, Charter Hall Long WALE REIT has also acquired
two industrial properties in Sydney and Brisbane for a total consideration of AU$67 million.
Moving on. The shares of Transurban Group have entered trading halt, pending it releasing an
announcement related to fund raise. The company will raise an AU$4.2 billion via equities to
support the acquisition of WestConnex, one of the world’s leading road infrastructure projects.
The road operator company informed its shareholder this morning that the Sydney Transport Partners
will acquire additional 49 per cent stake in rival firm WestConnex. The STP will buy
the remaining 49 per cent stake in WestConnex from the NSW Government for AU$11.1 billion.
The acquisition will take Sydney Transport Partners’s total ownership
interest in WestConnex to 100 per cent. Transurban owns 50 per cent of
Sydney Transport Partners alongside its strategically aligned partners.
And last but not the least. Shares of Regional Express gained nearly 1 per cent
after the airline made vaccinations mandatory for frontline staff.
The rival companies, Qantas and Virgin, have already made such announcements.
Rex has directed its frontline staff to get fully inoculated against COVID-19
by November 1, adding that 90 per cent of its staff is on track to meet the deadline.
Well, that’s a wrap in the mid market pulse show. Keep watching
kalkine tv for trending updates from Australia and global markets.