ASX finishes flat as GYG floats
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The news: The Australian sharemarket ended flat after a day of subdued trading day apart from the IPO of Guzman y Gomez.
The numbers: The benchmark ASX 200 finished flat at 7,769.4, with six out of 11 sectors finishing in green.
The biggest news of the day was Guzman y Gomez’ IPO which saw its share price rocket 36% to $30 at open compared to its offer price of $22.
The best performing sector was real estate, up 0.46%, followed by financials (0.33%) and utilities (0.23%).
Helia Group shares soared 15.57%, clawing back some of Wednesday's selloff, as analysts downplayed the likelihood of it losing a key contract with CBA.
DroneShield shares rose 8.33% after it announced that it had won a $4.7 million contract with a Swiss government agency.
The worst performing sector was healthcare, down 0.98%, followed by IT (-0.52%) and consumer staples (-0.41%).
Namoi shares fell 4.32% after the ACCC outlined competition concerns with Olam Agri’s proposed takeover.
MMA Offshore shares dropped 1.86% after its directors recommended an improved takeover offer from Cyan Renewables.
Dexus ended 1.99% lower after it wrote down $1.3 billion in property valuations amid a softening market.
Meanwhile, Treasury Wines fell 0.08% despite announcing that it expected an earnings boost for its luxury Penfolds brand off the back of the reopening of its key China market.
Mineral Resources lost 0.88% after announcing late on Wednesday that it would shut down its iron ore mines at Yilgarn as they are no longer financially viable.
After signing an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman and back-paying more than $16 million to underpaid staff, Eagers Automotive fell 0.47%.
The context: Tonight will see the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank make their latest monetary policy decisions. US unemployment figures will also be released tonight.
