Good morning and welcome to the Morning Outlook.
I’m Rachael Jones reporting live from Kalkine TV Sydney studio.
The Australian share market is set to open lower this morning as concerns over Omicron
variant persist, while a fall in oil prices is likely to pull down domestic energy stocks.
According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is likely open the day 30 points or 0.4% lower.
On Friday the Australian sharemarket managed to finish in positive territory
thanks to gains in miners, banks and energy stocks. At
the closing bell, the S&P/ASX 200 was 0.1 per cent or 8 points higher at 7,304.
Over the week, it closed 0.7 per cent or 50 points lower. The best-performing sector was Materials,
up 1.2 per cent. The worst-performing sector was Information Technology, down 3.9 per cent.
The best-performing stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Northern Star Resources. The worst-performing
stock in the S&P/ASX 200 was Domain Holdings Australia, closing 8.5 per cent lower at $5.16.
Let’s take a look at some business news from this morning now. The US Food and Drug Administration
has approved Telix’s lead prostate cancer imaging product, Illuccix. Telix is a
global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products
based on molecularly targeted radiation. Illuccix is a kit for the preparation of gallium-68
goze-to-tide injection, a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for positron
emission tomography of prostate-specific membrane antigen positive lesions in patients with prostate
cancer. This will be Telix’s first commercial product brought to market in the United States.
Australian Clinical Labs has successfully completed the acquisition of Medlab Pathology,
a leading Australian privately-owned independent pathology provider,
with two laboratories and 288 collection centres across NSW and QLD. They will acquire
the key business assets for $70 million. Regulatory approvals have been achieved,
conditions precedent have been met and completion has now occurred.
The OFX Group has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Firma Foreign Exchange Corporation
for $98 million. Based in Edmonton, Canada and founded in 1998, Firma is a global foreign
exchange service provider servicing Corporate clients. Firma has 194 employees, over 9,600
Corporate customers and operates from 9 offices in Canada, Australia, the UK, and New Zealand.
Happy Valley’s Chief Executive Officer Greg Wood has taken the decision to resign from the
Company and the Board. Since the Company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in early
2020, along with the Board and senior management team in New Zealand, Greg has played an integral
role in advancing the development of its state-ofthe-art nutritional grade processing
facility in Otorohanga in New Zealand, which is now ready for the construction phase.
Now it’s time for a short break – but stay tuned for more news set to effect the trading day.
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Welcome back to the Morning Outlook report.
Taking a look at the close on Wall Street On Friday,
The Dow Jones fell 1.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 1%, and the NASDAQ edged 0.1% lower. Traders
are anxious that markets are still vulnerable to even the smallest of pullbacks in stimulus.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.84%. Gold price surged as Omicron surge and hot
inflation drove investors to safe-haven assets. US gold futures settled up 0.4% at US$1,804.90.
Oil prices fell amid concerns over rising Omicron cases and lockdowns. WTI fell 2.72% to
US$70.41 per barrel. Brent dropped to US$73.18, down 2.45%. That’s all for our Morning Outlook
report here on Kalkine TV. Have a great day trading and stay tuned for more market updates
and economic news live throughout the day. This is Rachael Jones signing off for now.