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ASX down 0.16% at noon as China lowers loan prime rate

PUBLISHED

2023-08-21

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At noon, the S&P/ASX 200 is 0.16 per cent lower at 7,136.50.

The SPI futures are pointing to a fall of 8 points.

Australia's stock market is down in response China's central bank's decision to establish the one-year loan prime rate at 3.45%, which was lower than anticipated.

This rate had been at 3.55% in the previous month. Despite this, the five-year loan prime rate remained unchanged at 4.2%.

These loan prime rates are considered the de facto standard for lending rates in China.

Best and worst performers

The best-performing sector is Consumer Discretionary, up 1.51 per cent. The worst-performing sector is Consumer Staples, down 0.72 per cent.

The best-performing large cap is Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), trading 3.13 per cent higher at $2.64. It is followed by shares in BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) and Ampol (ASX:ALD).

The worst-performing large cap is Mercury NZ (ASX:MCY), trading 3.09 per cent lower at $5.95. It is followed by shares in Insurance Australia Group (ASX:IAG) and Meridian Energy (ASX:MEZ).

Company news

Red Metal (ASX:RDM) has announced that their new assay results have confirmed rare earth oxide at the Sybella project in Northwest Queensland. Red Metal believes the REO mineralisation should be recoverable by the application of a weak acid solution. Shares are trading 9.33 per cent higher at 8.2 cents.

Gladiator Resources (ASX:GLA) announced that it will commence the exploration program at its flagship SWC Uranium Target in Tanzania. Gladiator is mobilising a team in the next fortnight to carry out trenching at SWC to better understand the high-grade uranium drilling results. Shares are trading 7.14 per cent higher at 1.5 cents.

Charter Hall (ASX:CHC) announced their 2023 full year results. Their property investment portfolio is $3.0bn, and their group funds under management has grown 9.4% to $87.4bn. Shares are trading 4.66 per cent higher at $10.89.

Commodities and the dollar

Gold is trading at US$1915.60 an ounce.

Iron ore is 0.5 per cent higher at US$109.35 a tonne.

Iron ore futures are pointing to a 0.1 per cent fall.

One Australian dollar is buying 64.01 US cents. 

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