Although it off its lows, at lunch the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) has followed the lead of international markets and dropped notably lower. At the time of writing the ASX 200 is down 1% to 5,613.8 points.
Here's what's been happening on the ASX 200 so far today:
Coles hits the ASX boards.
The Coles Group Limited (ASX: COL) share price is trading at $13.01 at lunch after hitting the ASX boards this morning. This is in line with analyst expectations for a price in the range of $13.00 to $14.00. Based on its total shares outstanding of 1,333.9 million, this gives the supermarket giant a market capitalisation of approximately $17.4 billion.
Wesfarmers crashes lower.
At lunch the Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price is down a sizeable 29% to reflect the absence of the demerged Coles business from its valuation. This decline has wiped approximately $15 billion off its market capitalisation today. This doesn't appear to be a bad result given Coles' $17.4 billion valuation.
Tech selloff continues.
The information technology sector has been one of the worst performing sectors on the market on Wednesday following a tech selloff on Wall Street overnight. Popular tech shares such as Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), Appen Ltd (ASX: APX), and WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) are down in the range of 3% to 5% at lunch.
Energy shares sink lower.
Oil prices crashed lower again overnight after concerns over an impending supply glut returned. This has led to the energy sector falling heavily today. Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) and Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) shares have been among the worst performers in the sector with declines of 8% and 3.5%, respectively.
Best and worst performers.
The best performer on the ASX 200 today has been the Trade Me Group Ltd (ASX: TME) share price with a 17% gain. This morning the New Zealand-based online auction and classifieds business received a preliminary, non-binding, indicative proposal from Apax Partners to acquire it for a cash price of NZ$6.40 per share. Wesfarmers is the worst performer on the index, with UK-based bank CYBG PLC (ASX: CYB) not far behind with a 19% decline after a disappointing results release.
