The Australian share market, or S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX: XJO)(ASX: XJO) index, is expected to open higher on Friday morning, according to the Sydney Futures Exchange.
Here’s what you need to know:
Australian Dollar: 78.92 US cents
Dow Jones: up 0.8%
Oil (WTI): $US63.44 per barrel
Gold: $US1,306 per ounce
Bitcoin: $US13,458
Overnight, London-listed shares of BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Limited closed up 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively.
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Here in Australia, the $3 billion oil and gas company Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) will be a focus following an update overnight. Beach said initial testing at a field in the Otway Basin indicated the commercial potential for a large gas resource.
CEO Matt Kay said, “We are very encouraged by these results, and to witness in the early stage of testing such strong well deliverability from an onshore gas field is particularly pleasing.”
Incitec Pivot Limited (ASX: IPL), the leading industrial chemicals company, provided an update on its West Australian business yesterday evening. Incitec said it was advised by Roy Hill Iron Ore that its contract for explosive products and services will expire on February 9th.
Incitec’s ASX announcement read: “…the loss of the Roy Hill contract is currently estimated to have a one off impact on Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) of approximately $5m in FY18, $16m in FY19, $22m in FY20, $18m in FY21, and $20m in FY22, and minimal impact beyond FY22.“
The Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR), one of Australia’s leading property investment trusts, acknowledged Moody’s downgrade of its outlook from “stable” to “negative”. Its credit rating remained intact at Baa1. Credit ratings and outlooks can be vital to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) because a better credit rating means a better interest rate on their large loans, similar to a person’s credit score when they apply for a mortgage or car loan.
Shares of Wattle Health Australia Ltd (ASX: WHA), a $160 million infant formula business, entered a trading halt today. The company requested a halt as it plans to make “a material announcement by WHA in relation to a new product accreditation arrangement.”
Finally, in broker news, analysts at Canaccord Genuity raised their price target on Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA) 7.5% to $0.86 per share, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Yesterday, Nearmap released a trading update.
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