A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange ASX in central Sydney August 7, 2013.
A man looks the board of the Australian Securities Exchange in central Sydney August 7, 2013. Reuters/Daniel Munoz
  • Australian shares are rising for the third straight day, with the ASX 200 index up 0.3 per cent at lunch. Global markets were quiet overnight, following a largely expected US GDP read.
  • Mining and energy stocks are losing ground although they’ve been two strong performing sectors this week. BHP Billiton (BHP) is down 0.5 per cent, while its recent spinoff South32 (S32) is down by 0.6 per cent.
  • ResMed (RMD), which develops sleep disorder treatments is up 6.8 per cent at lunch. The US based business slightly improved its profit and sales over the 2015 financial year. Net profit rose by 2 per cent to US$353m. Revenue jumped by 9 per cent to US$453m over the past three months. Sales from the company’s US business surged by 27 per cent over the quarter, but slipped 10 per cent across the region and Europe due to currency fluctuations.
  • Nine Entertainment (NEC) has completed the sale of 100 per cent of Ticketek and Ninemsn owner Nine Live for $640m. Once stripping out costs and tax, NEC is expected to keep ~$600m. NEC plans to partly use the funds to help reduce its debt.
  • The major banks are rising by 0.4 per cent and have jumped by 2.1 per cent over the course of the week.
  • On Saturday, China’s official monthly manufacturing industry update will be released at 11am AEST and will be a talking point for markets on Monday.
  • 783.4m shares have been traded at lunch, worth a well above average $3.2bn. 410 stocks are up, 355 down and 271 unchanged.

Steven Daghlian - Market Analyst (Author)

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