Good afternoon to all of you! I’m Holly and you’re watching Kalkine TV live from
Sydney. Let’s get on with the last show of the day - The Last Trade.
The S&P/ASX200 closed up Thursday, gaining 75.60 points or 1.05% and setting
a new 20-day high. The top performing stocks in this index were ZIP up 8.92% and Polynovo,
up 8.82%. Over the last five days, the index has gained 1.68%, but is down 2.60% for
the last year to date.
And now, let us look at the ASX listed stocks that were in news today. Let’s look at the
latest announcement as well as stock price performance of these companies.
The share price of energy giant, Ampol, hovered in the green territory on Thursday, after
the Australian fuel retailer revealed that it has received a go-ahead from the competition
watchdog, New Zealand Commerce Commission, to acquire New Zealand-based fuel distribution
and retailing company, Z Energy. Backed by the news, Ampol stock was spotted trading
1.780% higher at AU$29.160 on ASX. The share price of Ampol has gained 24.31% over the
last 12 months.
Moving to the next stock. ASX and NYSE-listed Irish building products group James Hardie
Industries has entered into agreements to acquire land in Melbourne for capacity expansion.
Post announcement, James Hardie share price advanced more than 2% on the ASX to trade
at AU$46.59 a share today. As of date the fibre cement building materials company’s
share price is moving up, though in the beginning of the month it was low. The share price is
still more than 24% below its 52-week high price level of AU$58.070 each. Its share is
trading at a price earnings ratio of 28.2 and the annual dividend yield is 0.90%. The
last dividend paid by James Hardie was in December 2021 worth AU$0.412 per share.
The shares of Coventry Group were on investors' radar on Thursday after the company provided
an update on the acquisition of Goudie and Fraser Coast Bolts & Industrial Supplies.
Today the share price of Coventry Group was spotted trading at AU$1.470 per share on ASX.
Coventry Group shares have gained 32.43% over the last 12 months. Besides, the stock is
12.50% lower on year-to-date. The acquisitions are of immense strategic value to Coventry
Group. While Goudie expands the Group's trade distribution presence in New Zealand, Fraser
Coast Bolts & Industrial Supplies is expected to expand Coventry's Konnect and Artia Australia
branch network.
The ASX-listed medical device company Cochlear shares surged 1.22% on Thursday. The company’s
share gained today in early trades on the ASX because the S&P/ASX All Technology index
was also 1.27% up at 40,924.40. Since the company announced its half-yearly results
for the financial year 2022, its share price has constantly been going up. Cochlear's
shares have gained over 8% since it declared an interim dividend of AU$1.55 per share in
its first half 2022 results on 22 February 2022, an increase of 35% compared to last
year. The ex-date is 18 March 2022, and the payment date for the dividend is 21 April
2022. The company's share prices have grown by almost 4% year-to-date and 7% in 52-weeks’
time.
And finally, looking at this last news about the latest unicorn in Australia - Linktree
has raised US$110 million.
Australian ‘link-in-bio’ startup, Linktree, has raised US$110 million in funding from
Index Ventures and Coatue. This latest round was supported by Australian firm AirTree Ventures,
which pushed its valuation into unicorn territory at US$1.3 billion. With this raise, Linktree
will be able to focus on its additional geographic expansion, recruitment, revenue streams and
add value for its creators and brands via new tools and partnerships. Linktree was co-founded
in 2016 by Alex, Anthony Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys. The 'link-in-bio' tool provider,
which connects users' fragmented online presence, has over 23 million users.
That’s a wrap folks. Hope you found the market closing commentary informative. We
will be back tomorrow, LIVE from Sydney at 9.30 in the morning with our first report
on pre-market scenario along with the important updates from the global markets, to prepare
you for the trading day. That’s all for now. Take care and stay safe.